In summer 2014, everybody was challenging somebody else to put buckets of ice cold water on themselves, apparently in the name of charity. Now finally, it has turned out to be useful.

The Ice Bucket Challenge was a charity effort to collect money for the ALS Association, and was apparently everywhere on social media in 2014. Friends and families were seen participating on Facebook footages, and selecting others to face the challenge and raise donation for the charity.

Later on, even celebrities, everyone from Justin Timberlake to Anna Wintour to Mark Zuckerberg, joined the challenge and shared videos of them pouring chilled cold water over their heads.

In spite of the following backlash against the charity initiative, wherein writers raised questions about the usefulness of the viral video challenge, a huge amount of $220 million was raised. Then the money was distributed to reach amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease.

Project MinE was among such research efforts mainly funded by the Ice Bucket Challenge, which got $1 million for research. On Monday, the company announced the discovery of a gene linked with the disease.

In a press release, the ALS Association said that the latest gene has been identified as NEK1, and is one of the ‘most common genes that contribute’ to ALS. The gene has been detected in a small percentage of ALS cases analyzed by researchers (just 3%); however, NEK1 was present in both familial and sporadic ALS cases.

In a statement, Bernard Muller, founder of the Project MinE and an ALS patient, said that the gene’s discovery is another step in the direction of ‘eradicating this disease from the face of the earth’.

Muller said, “The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled us to secure funding from new sources in new parts of world. Thankfully, ALS Association brought Project MinE to the United States. This transatlantic collaboration supports our global gene hunt to identify genetic drivers of ALS”.

A report published in Wyff4 revealed, "But one of these viral pop culture moments is even more relevant today. The campaign that encouraged millions of people to dump buckets of ice-cold water over their heads raised enough money to help make an important research breakthrough, the ALS association announced Monday."

The massive, socially-driven fund raising push saw 17 million people posting videos online and a slew of celebrities from Bill Gates to Steph Curry getting soaked to raise awareness for ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease.

One million dollars went towards Project MinE, a University of Massachusetts Medical School Project that was able to identify a gene that is responsible for the degenerative disease. The gene, identified as NEK1, provides another potential target for therapy development, and brings scientists one step closer to treating the neurological disorder.

According to a report in SFGATE by Dianne de Guzman, "The Ice Bucket Challenge was a charity initiative to raise money for the ALS Association, and seemed to be everywhere on social media in 2014. First, friends and family were seen taking part on Facebook videos, and choosing others to take on the challenge and donate to the charity."

The new gene is identified as NEK1, and is among the "most common genes that contribute" to ALS, the ALS Association said in a press release. The gene is found in a small percentage of ALS cases that researchers looked at (only 3 percent), however, NEK1 is found in both familial and sporadic ALS cases, which is new.

"The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled us to secure funding from new sources in new parts of the world," Muller said. "Thankfully, the ALS Association brought Project MinE to the United States. This transatlantic collaboration supports our global gene hunt to identify the genetic drivers of ALS."