The Emerging Science of BMAA: Do Cyanobacteria Contribute to Neurodegenerative Disease?

2012/03/01 by Wendee Holtcamp · 1 citation
Energy · Medicine · #Algal biology and biofuel production #Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research #Biology #Cyanobacteria #Disease #Ecology #Environmental ethics #Medicine

paper · pdf · doi:10.1289/ehp.120-a110

openalex publication_date 2012/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04

Abstract

n 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 neuro degenerative 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 -methylamino-lalanine (BMAA)-a cyanobacterial neurotoxin found in contaminated seafood and shellfish, drinking water supplies, and recrea tional waters-may be a major factor in these diseases.

Citations

• Blooms Like It Hot

Cited by

• Cycad [wikipedia]

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