Fast Progress In The Research World:
So just a few short years ago, civilians and celebrities all around the country rejoiced in good-natured bullying of their friends & colleagues.
And even though the premise was: either dump the bucket of ice water over your head or donate, many people went the torture-route anyway. -You know, for “fun”?
Despite this, that challenge raised $115 million dollars to fight the disease.
And then something amazing happened with a very small percentage of that money.
-The power of You did more than just fund something…
Crowds To The Rescue! Again:
Because the follow-up result to the challenge was the inclusion of not just Money into the project, but many good People around the world who had donated something much more precious.
Themselves.
So much so, that the researchers got what they call “Big Data” in what turned out to be the largest-ever study on ALS.
And they used that huge amount of information to comb through with very high-powered search engines.
Crowd Funds + Crowd Data = Win On All Fronts:
-Until they did yet-again what the future of medicine will be.
Out of all those volunteers whose gene-samples were saved with IBC funds, they found another piece of DNA common to all the people who have ALS.
And that is exactly how they will beat this thing, 1 gene at-a-time.
They just have to find out what that list of (now) 3 genes does, what proteins they make, and how they interfere with people’s normal function.
Protein Folding Supercomputers, Viruses, Cures:
After that, the solution might be as simple as creating a modified-gene & putting into people using a virus, just like Aaron Cross in “The Bourne Legacy”.
-And the coolest part of the solution again comes down to people.
Because finding the “right” version of that gene is probably something they’ll get from a huge set of DNA-volunteers again.
Kickstarter My Heart & Humanity’s Immune-System:
So things like Kickstarter and IndieGoGo are about much more than funding widget-startups.
They can become the human-race working as an immune-system for itself.
The healthy parts can get together and fix the ones that are suffering to make life just that little bit better for the whole thing.
-All because of a database, a search-algorithm, a donation-website,
and YOU!
JUMP BONUS!: Dr. Landers Talks About The Funding Project MinE Got From The IBC:
Check out the uplifting details at the Links:
Photo/Video Credits: Ice Bucket Challenge Infographic, and Project MinE funding video, by ALSA.org
Links:
• Source: ALSA.org
• via: CNN
• More Coverage: Project MinE | List of Projects Funded By The IBC
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