Remember The Ice Bucket Challenge? It Just Funded A Major Breakthough In ALS Research — boredpanda.com

Remember the ice bucket challenge? Well, guess what? The charity fundraiser condemned by many as “slacktivism” has just funded a major breakthrough in ALS research. The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s Project MinE has just identified the gene that is responsible for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease or Motor Neuron Disease). This game-changing discovery, published in Nature Genetics, was possible thanks to the 1 million USD that was donated to scientists at the university from the Ice Bucket Challenge. More than 5,000 people each year are diagnosed with ALS in the U.S alone, and the discovery of the gene in question (named NEK1) could lead to a better understanding of, and treatment for, ALS.

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