Well, folks, it's time for me to put on my "dumbass" hat again. I was one of those people who was very adamantly against the internet sensation "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge" (IBC) a few summers ago when it went viral. I thought to myself, what's the point of pouring cold water on your head and claiming to help an organization when you're really not? I thought to myself, people must be doing it for their own reasons, wanting to get in on the popular new fad.
Boy, was I wrong.
Because of the IBC, the ALS Association was able to donate $1 million to the University of Massachusetts Medical School. There, a team called Project MinE recently discovered a variant gene responsible for ALS. Identified to be NEK1, it is giving scientists huge clues as to how to begin treating ALS.
While this is not yet a cure, it is a major milestone in prevention and early detection of the disease.
What does this mean for us? Well, this is some powerful information to have. An Internet fad quite literally changed science. This is a brand new form of research and fundraising which was essentially pioneered by the IBC–and it worked. So, now that we know what happens when things like the IBC take off, what will we do next? We have in the palm of our hands a brand new form of technology, and we are finally realizing its true power.
What was the key? Was it Facebook? Was it the video aspect? Was it the hashtag? Well, all of the above. According to Bernard Muller, Project MinE's founder, the IBC "enabled us to secure funding from new sources in new parts of the world... this transatlantic cooperation supports our global gene hunt to identify the genetic drivers of ALS."
The video sensation swept the globe, raking in funds from almost every continent. Awareness, access, and action all spiked because of the IBC. So, what's next? Now that we know the Internet has the power to (nearly) cure diseases, what will we do? What should we do? Leave your opinion in the comments!
