Plants, bats magnify neurotoxin in Guam

Researchers have turned up new evidence that a natural toxin that grows more concentrated as it moves up the food chain might have caused a puzzling spike in a neurodegenerative disease in Guam.

Starting in the mid-20th century, this disease–which shares traits with Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease–began increasing among Guam’s Chamorro people (SN: 5/17/03, p.