In 2014, the “ice bucket challenge” dominated social media in a viral pop culture moment that saw 17 million people posting videos online of participants dumping buckets of ice-cold water over their heads. As a result of the viral campaign, the ALS association announced Monday that an important research breakthrough has occurred through money raised from the challenge.
The idea behind the fundraiser was to post a video of yourself pouring ice water over your head, and then challenge others to do the same as well as donating money to the ALS foundation. Celebrities such as Bill Gates and Steph Cury all took part in getting soaked in ice cold water to raise awareness for ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
Videos by PopCulture.com
In just eight weeks, $115 million was donated to the ALS association. According to the foundation, 67% of the funds were dedicated to advancing research for treatments and a cure.
One million dollars from the donations went towards a University of Massachusetts Medical School Project titled Project MinE. Because of the additional funds, the project was able to identify a gene that is responsible for the degenerative disease, according to CNN.
ALS is a disease that causes “nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord to gradually deteriorate,” reports CNN. Also, “Within two to five years of diagnosis, patients lose their ability to breathe, leading to their death.”
Scientists are now one step closer to treating the neurological disorder as Project MinE identified the gene, NEK1, which provides another target for therapy development.
Dr. Lucie Bruijin, Chief Scientist at the ALS Association, stated: “The sophisticated gene analysis that led to this finding was only possible because of the large number of ALS samples available. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled the ALS Association to invest in Project MinE’s work to create large biorepositories of ALS biosamples that are designed to allow exactly this kind of research and to produce exactly this kind of result.
The ALS organization has mentioned that this is the third gene identified related to the disease. However, this discovery is unique because the project that found the gene is led by someone who actually has ALS.
Congratulations to Project MinE and the ALS foundation for making another significant breakthrough in finding a cure for ALS.
