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Rachael Anne Dunlop (born 19 November 1970), popularly known as Dr. Rachie, is an Australian medical researcher and sceptic. She is a postdoctoral fellow in cell biology at the University of Technology, Sydney. In 2013 she and her colleagues discovered that an amino acid produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) may trigger the onset of motor neurone disease (also known as ALS), and this research may help lead to a treatment for this fatal disease.〔 A prominent member of the Australian sceptic movement, she frequently blogs about and speaks out against the anti-vaccine movement in Australia and has a regular segment on ''The Skeptic Zone'' podcast.〔 Dunlop won a Shorty Award in 2010 for her Twitter posts about health-related topics.〔 Dunlop has been interviewed about scepticism, vaccines, and her research on several national radio and television programs, including ''Big Ideas'', ''The Project'', and ''Lateline''. ==Education and career== In high school Dunlop studied both art and science, and after graduation got a certificate in fine art from Stanley Street School of Art (majoring in photography and print making), followed by an Advanced Diploma in Graphic Design from the Croydon Park campus of TAFE South Australia. She also completed AWARD (Australasian Writers and Art Directors) School.〔 She has worked as a photographer and printmaker, a graphic designer, and a copywriter for a large international advertising agency.〔 Dunlop eventually lost interest in her advertising work and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in cell biology at Adelaide University, even though she hadn't taken any biology in high school.〔 She then received an honours degree from the Department of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology at Adelaide University and a PhD in cell biology from Sydney Medical School in 2005.〔 Her PhD dissertation examined the mechanisms of impaired degradation of oxidised proteins with a focus on the consequences for heart disease.〔 She worked as a medical researcher at the Heart Research Institute in Camperdown, New South Wales, and is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney, where she studies ageing disorders and motor neurone disease.〔 She is also on the editorial board for the peer-reviewed journal ''Focus on Alternative and Complementary Therapies''.〔 In 2013 Dunlop received media attention for publishing a study that demonstrated a link between exposure to cyanobacteria and motor neurone disease, also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease. She and her colleagues found that the bacteria (commonly known as blue-green algae) produce an amino acid called BMAA that causes cell death and triggers the onset of the fatal disease.〔 The cyanobacteria can be ingested by drinking contaminated water and may even occur on fruits and vegetables washed in this water.〔 Additionally, BMAA may be responsible for the extremely high prevalence of the disease among the indigenous people of Guam, who eat fruit bats that have ingested the seeds of plants growing amongst the cyanobacteria. She suggests that the use of cyanobacteria in fertiliser production may even be linked to a higher incidence of motor neurone disease among certain athletes.〔 Other researchers have begun clinical trials of potential treatments based on this research.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rachael Dunlop」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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