The Emerging Science of BMAA: Do Cyanobacteria Contribute to Neurodegenerative Disease?
Citation: Holtcamp W 2012. The Emerging Science of BMAA: Do Cyanobacteria Contribute to Neurodegenerative Disease? Environ Health Perspect 120:a110-a116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.120-a110
"In the late 1990s ethnobotanist Paul Alan Cox visited the indigenous Chamorro people of Guam, sleuthing for cancer cures in the lush rainforest. He soon stumbled upon troubling facts that would change the trajectory of his career, leading to major clues in understanding Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS) and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases. Since that time, major breakthroughs in the fields of neurobiology, epidemiology, and ecology have led to an increased interest in an unlikely hypothesis: that β-methylamino-ʟ-alanine (BMAA)—a cyanobacterial neurotoxin found in contaminated seafood and shellfish, drinking water supplies, and recreational waters—may be a major factor in these diseases."
