From Carol Stevenson
If lytigo-bodig is caused by the toxin BMAA in a staple food of the Chamorro people in Guam, why is it relatively recently identified (23 January, p 14)? Is it possible that another food, now no longer eaten, was very high in serine, that seems to offer some protection from the disease?
This does seem possible on a remote island that has been taken over by an outside power.
The editor writes:
• Lytigo-bodig peaked in the 1950s. It has been suggested that around this time islanders gained increased access to firearms via US military bases, and used them to shoot BMAA-laden flying foxes for food. Also, the cycad seeds themselves began to be dried into chips or ground into flour and used in domestic dishes.