A group of disorders affecting the central nervous system, MND gradually destroys a person's voluntary functions - including the ability to speak, walk and breathe.
Sufferers usually die within five years of diagnosis, and in more than 90 per cent of cases the cause is unknown.
There is no known cure.
Doctor Rachael Dunlop from the University of Technology Sydney is one of the authors of an international study into the association between exposure to blue green algae and MND.
She's told Kristina Kukolja scientists have long been aware of the link, but the new research reveals how it occurs.
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