The Ice Bucket Challenge Helped Fund an ALS Research Breakthrough
A UMass researcher’s team found a new gene
Date Posted: Thursday, July 28, 2016
MARTY WALSH TAKES THE ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE/PHOTO BY KYLE CLAUSS
If you doused yourself with ice water back in 2014, it wasn’t all for nought. The ALS Association announced Monday that money raised through the Ice Bucket Challenge helped researchers find a new gene associated with ALS, challenging critics who called the viral campaign nothing more than a social media stunt.
“This study was only possible because of the collaboration of all of the scientists involved,” Landers said in a statement. “It is a prime example of the success that can come from the combined efforts of so many people, all dedicated to finding the causes of ALS. This kind of collaborative study is, more and more, where the field is headed.”