The Ice Bucket Challenge, BBC reported, was done by over 17 million people through videos on Facebook and received over 440 million views.
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According to the ALS nonprofit, in just eight weeks in 2014, it received $115 million in donations because of the socially-driven fundraising campaign.
Over eight researchers across the globe looked for ALS risk genes in families that have been affected by the wasting disease.
It has led to the discovery of a new gene (NEK1) linked with ALS, which now ranks among the most common genes that contribute to the disease. “[These] are created to allow exactly this kind of research and to produce exactly this kind of result”.
Well, that cold water and the hundreds of thousands around the world who took the challenge, have made a difference reports WWJ health reporter Dr. Deanna Lites.
In fact, Project MinE says it has found three new genes in the past couple of years. The discovery of the new gene will help scientists to better understand ALS disease. Many people with the disease die within two to five years of being diagnosed.
At the time, some anxious that the campaign wouldn’t actually “raise awareness” for ALS, because the disease seemed to be secondary to watching the spectacle of a bunch of people volunteering for temporary misery.
It’s a good thing the cause was so important- to get the message about ALS out to so many more people. Inherited ALS accounts for about 10 percent of ALS cases, but researchers think other genes may play a role in more cases.
On Monday, the ALS Association announced the breakthrough.
The more than $100 million that was raised is being used for a number of studies.
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A couple of summers back, the challenge, planned to increase money for study into amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called Lou Gehrig’s disease, widely spread across the internet.
