Ice Bucket Challenge Begins to Yield Results

Two years ago, the ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge became a viral sensation on the Internet and raised $115 million to fight the progressive neurodegenerative disease. Now those doused donors are seeing concrete results from the money they gave. A recent paper in Nature Genetics reported on the identification of a new gene that is a contributor to ALS, a finding that was funding in part from Ice Bucket Challenge money and could lead to new therapies. We spoke to Lucie Bruijn, chief scientist of the ALS Association, about the findings, their significance, and lessons for other disease groups seeking to accelerate research.