Those who didn’t want to participate in the challenge were encouraged to donate money instead toward research on the neurodegenerative disease ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
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Their findings, which were published this week in Nature Genetics, detail the discovery of NEK1, a gene found to be present in 3 percent of North American and European ALS cases.
The ALS Association credits money raised through the Ice Bucket Challenge for the discovery of a common gene that contributes to the progressive disease.
Project MinE was one of six projects funded by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised almost US$115 million in 2014.
According to the ALS nonprofit, in just eight weeks in 2014, it received $115 million in donations because of the socially-driven fundraising campaign.
At the time, if you remember, the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge came under fire for being “slacktivism”, or activism from the couch and was criticized for wasting water while California was experiencing a severe drought. Within two to five years of diagnosis, most patients lose their ability to breathe, leading to their death.
People were seen on facebook dunking a bucket of iced water over their heads while soliciting donations and nominating others to do the same. Through that sequencing, they discovered NEK1.
Kristin Munyan, with the ALS Association Michigan Chapter, says this is an important breakthrough. Dr. Lucie Bruijin, Chief Scientist at the ALS Association, told CNN that awareness helped increase the number of ALS samples available for testing.
The collaborative effort involved more than 80 researchers from 11 countries.
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With the identification of the NEK1 gene, scientists are another step closer to treating ALS.
