ALS Ice Bucket Challenge helped fund medical discovery

It may have seemed like just another one of those crazy internet challenges when it first started, but the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has totally worked. The challenge, which went viral in 2014, has reportedly funded an important scientific gene discovery in the progressive neurodegenerative disease ALS. This was revealed by the ALS Association.

Also read: Cutest Ice Bucket Challenge Yet

According to BBC, more than 17-million people and celebrities uploaded videos to Facebook, helping raise $115-million. But according to engadget.com, not all the money came from videos. Some came from donations from ALS Association state chapters.

"The sophisticated gene analysis that led to this finding was only possible because of the large number of ALS samples available," Lucie Bruijn of the ALS Association told the publication.

 

Below are some of our very own Jacaranda stars who took part in the challenge.