Retired professor Ed Schantz, the grandfather of what are now known as Botox treatments, and an expert in growing the world’s deadliest poisons, died Thursday at age 96.

In 1946, Schantz and colleagues purified botulinum toxin type A – the poison that causes an often fatal form of muscle paralysis called botulism – in a crystalline form, giving researchers the raw material to study it in greater detail, according to the Botox Web site of Allergan, which acquired rights to distribute the toxin in 1988.

While the military was interested in the application of his work in biological weaponry, Schantz was an early advocate of medical use of the poisons and began studying such uses for botulinum in the 1960s.

Schantz reasoned that in small doses the poison could stop the muscle spasms that cause certain illnesses. One of the first medical uses was to treat crossed eyes, which are caused by an overactive eye muscle.

Today, injections of the toxin in the commercial form of Botox are used to smooth facial wrinkles and crow’s-feet, among other things.

Schantz retired from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Food Research Institute in 1979.

In 1992, Schantz was nearly alone in his ability to grow and purify Botox. Discover magazine then compared him to a fine winemaker who had perfected his craft over decades.

After beginning his career at Fort Detrick, Md., in World War II, Schantz also was the first to purify and grow the “red tide” shellfish toxin, another deadly poison.