Like some of the chemical weapons, biological weapons may also be useful as area denial weapons. These agents may be lethal or non-lethal, and may be targeted against a single individual, a group of people, or even an entire population.
Acetylcholine is a chemical messenger, a neurotransmitter, released by nerve cells in many parts of the peripheral nervous system. It controls the contraction of all skeletal or voluntary muscles, for instance. It also affects the contraction of smooth and cardiac muscle.
In response to a stimulus, the brain or the spinal cord may initiate muscle cell contraction to enable movement. The neurotransmitter that signals muscle cell contraction is acetylcholine, and it is released in the synapse between the neuron and the muscle cell. If the acetylcholine that is released is not broken down, the muscle cells remain in a contracted state and cannot respond effectively to new signals from the brain.