Ice Bucket Challenge gave the result: New research advances toward ALS! – Cafe

Barack Obama, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were three of all the people who participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge the summer of 2014.

Remember when social media flooded with films where people poured cold water over themselves? In 2014, launched the campaign “Ice Bucket Challenge” to raise awareness around the nerve disease ALS. The viral phenomenon severely criticized, many felt that it took the focus away from the disease itself and downplayed the seriousness of the diagnosis of a viral celebrity fly.

But now research funded by campaign led to advances in research. It’s Mine Project, an initiative run by donations from the Ice Bucket Challenge, which identified a new gene linked to ALS. A bargain that has the potential to revolutionize treatment options, according to a press release.

Now scientists hope to find more effective treatments, with the goal of finding a cure according to Lucie Bruijn , research manager at the ALS Association.

Even in Sweden, the campaign has had a strong national power. Over 35 000 people have texted donations to the Brain Foundation fundraiser for ALS research, which resulted in 4 million collected crowns of which a grant of 3 million went to researchers at Umeå University.