Teacher:In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? Solve this instance: An international research team, which took part in Project MinE's global gene sequencing effort, and which was funded by The ALS Association through ALS Ice Bucket Challenge donations, says they have identified a new ALS gene, NEK1, which now ranks among the most common genes that contribute to the disease. Their study (“Genome-wide association analyses identify new risk variants and the genetic architecture of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis research”), published in Nature Genetics, will provide scientists with another potential target for therapy development. 
  
 This was the largest-ever study of familial (inherited) ALS, involved contributions from over 80 researchers in 11 countries, and was led by John Landers, Ph.D., of University of Massachusetts Medical School and Jan Veldink, Ph.D., of University Medical Center Utrecht. 
  
 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, people with ALS lose the ability to initiate and control muscle movement, which leads to total paralysis and death, usually within two to five years of diagnosis. While 10% of ALS is familial, meaning it's genetic, the other 90% of ALS cases are considered sporadic, or without a family history. However, it's very likely that genetics contribute, directly or indirectly, to a much larger percentage of ALS cases. 
  
 "The discovery of NEK1 highlights the value of 'big data' in ALS research," said Lucie Bruijn, Ph.D., chief scientist for the ALS Association. "The sophisticated gene analysis that led to this finding was only possible because of the large number of ALS samples available. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled The ALS Association to invest in Project MinE's work to create large biorepositories of ALS biosamples that are designed to allow exactly this kind of research and to produce exactly this kind of result." 
  
 NEK1 was discovered through a genome-wide search for ALS risk genes in over 1,000 ALS families, and was independently found through different means in an isolated population in The Netherlands. Further analysis in over 13,000 sporadic ALS individuals compared to controls again revealed an overrepresentation of variants in the same gene. The variations discovered in the gene sequence are predicted to lead to gene loss of function. 
  
 NEK1 is known to have multiple roles in neurons, including maintenance of the cytoskeleton that gives the neuron its shape and promotes transport within the neuron. In addition, NEK1 has roles in regulating the membrane of the mitochondrion, which supplies energy to neurons and in repairing DNA. Disruption of each of these cellular functions through other means has been linked to increased risk of ALS. ||||| These crawls are part of an effort to archive pages as they are created and archive the pages that they refer to. That way, as the pages that are referenced are changed or taken from the web, a link to the version that was live when the page was written will be preserved.Then the Internet Archive hopes that references to these archived pages will be put in place of a link that would be otherwise be broken, or a companion link to allow people to see what was originally intended by a page's authors.The goal is to fix all broken links on the web . Crawls of supported "No More 404" sites. ||||| The ALS Association says money raised by viral charity challenge, dismissed as ‘slacktivism’ by many, has helped identify a new gene associated with the disease 
  
 It is often easy to dismiss viral charity campaigns as “slacktivism”, which lacks in real-world impact (we never did catch the warlord Joseph Kony, after all) but a breakthrough discovery bankrolled by 2014’s ALS ice bucket challenge may give the lie to that cynicism. 
  
 The ice bucket challenge was a phenomenon in the summer of 2014 in which people dunked a bucket of iced water over their heads in order to solicit donations before nominating others to do the same. 
  
  
  
 How the ice bucket challenge led to an ALS research breakthrough Read more 
  
 Scores of celebrities including Mark Zuckerberg, Anna Wintour, Tom Cruise, Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr and hundreds more made videos, but the campaign was criticised by some. 
  
  
  
 Slate wrote that “for most of the people posting ice bucket videos of themselves on Facebook, Vine, and Instagram, the charity part remains a postscript”, while Time called it “problematic in almost every way”, going on to say that “most of its participants ... didn’t mention the disease at all. The chance to jump on the latest trend was an end in itself. In fact, the challenge’s structure seems almost inherently offensive to those touched by ALS.” 
  
 But the proof of the pudding was in the eating: the campaign raised more than $100m in a 30-day period, and was able to fully fund a number of research projects. 
  
 One of these was Project MinE, a large data-driven initiative funded by the ALS Association through ice bucket challenge donations, as well as donations from the organization’s Georgia and New York chapters. The project’s researchers announced on Monday that they have identified a new gene associated with the disease, which experts say could lead to new treatment possibilities. 
  
 'I don't like to sugarcoat anything': Gleason shows reality of living with ALS Read more 
  
 Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, is a neurological disorder in which the motor neurons that control muscle function slowly die. The disease can be either sporadic or inherited, and in either case there is currently no cure. 
  
  
  
 “It’s very exciting because it shows everyone who contributed to the ice bucket challenge that their donation had an impact on the research,” said Brian Frederick, executive vice-president of communications and development at the ALS Association. “The work that Project MinE is doing is really important, and the discovery of this new gene will help us better understand ALS.” 
  
  
  
 The newly discovered gene, NEK1, is only associated with 3% of ALS cases, but it is present in both inherited and sporadic forms of the disease, which researchers say gives them a new target for the development of possible treatments. 
  
  
  
 Project MinE has been working to sequence the genomes of 15,000 people with the disease, and the discovery, which was described in a paper published on Monday in the journal Nature Genetics, involved more than 80 researchers in 11 countries. 
  
  
  
 The discovery was significant, Frederick said, “because it helps us understand what’s triggering this and can help us better find a treatment,” though he added that “it’s still very early in our understanding of this particular gene, and we still have a ways to go with understanding ALS generally.” 
  
  ||||| "The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled us to secure funding from new sources in new parts of the world," Bernard Muller, founder of Project MinE and ALS patient, said in a statement. "This transatlantic collaboration supports our global gene hunt to identify the genetic drivers of ALS." ||||| In July 2012, the DSMB for the NINDS-sponsored clinical trial of ceftriaxone in ALS recommended that based on existing data the trial be stopped because the study was unlikely to reach the pre-determined efficacy criteria. The NINDS leadership concurred. Pre-clinical research identified ceftriaxone as a promising treatment for ALS therefore it was important for people with ALS to find out if the drug could be beneficial in ameliorating the disease. The study used a novel seamless adaptive design. Final analysis and presentation of the results will occur after completion of site monitoring and database lock. The important contributions of patients, their families and the hard work of the investigators and their teams made it possible to implement the trial. While all had hoped for a more positive result, the trial has moved ALS research forward. 
  
 What is Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)? 
  
 Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease or classical motor neuron disease, is a rapidly progressive, invariably fatal neurological disease that attacks the nerve cells (neurons) responsible for controlling voluntary muscles. In ALS, both the upper motor neurons and the lower motor neurons degenerate or die, ceasing to send messages to muscles. Unable to function, the muscles gradually weaken, waste away, and twitch. Eventually the ability of the brain to start and control voluntary movement is lost. Symptoms are usually first noticed in the arms and hands, legs, or swallowing muscles. Muscle weakness and atrophy occur on both sides of the body. Individuals with ALS lose their strength and the ability to move their arms and legs, and to hold the body upright. When muscles in the diaphragm and chest wall fail to function properly, individuals lose the ability to breathe without ventilatory support. The disease does not affect a person's ability to see, smell, taste, hear, or recognize touch. Although the disease does not usually impair a person's mind or personality, several recent studies suggest that some people with ALS may develop cognitive problems involving word fluency, decision-making, and memory. The cause of ALS is not known, and scientists do not yet know why ALS strikes some people and not others. 
  
 Is there any treatment? 
  
 No cure has yet been found for ALS. However, the drug riluzole--the only prescribed drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat ALS--prolongs life by 2-3 months but does not relieve symptoms. The FDA has also approved the NeuRx Diaphragm Pacing System, which uses implanted electrodes and a battery pack to cause the diaphragm (breathing muscle) to contract, to help certain individuals who have ALS and breathing problems an average benefit of 16 months before onset of severe respiratory failure. Other treatments are designed to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of life for people with ALS. Drugs are available to help individuals with spasticity, pain, panic attacks, and depression. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and rehabilitation may help to prevent joint immobility and slow muscle weakness and atrophy. Individuals with ALS may eventually consider forms of mechanical ventilation (respirators). 
  
 What is the prognosis? 
  
 Regardless of the part of the body first affected by the disease, muscle weakness and atrophy spread to other parts of the body as the disease progresses. Individuals have increasing problems with moving, swallowing, and speaking or forming words. Eventually people with ALS will not be able to stand or walk, get in or out of bed on their own, or use their hands and arms. In later stages of the disease, individuals have difficulty breathing as the muscles of the respiratory system weaken. Although ventilation support can ease problems with breathing and prolong survival, it does not affect the progression of ALS. Most people with ALS die from respiratory failure, usually within 3 to 5 years from the onset of symptoms. However, about 10 percent of those individuals with ALS survive for 10 or more years. 
  
 What research is being done? 
  
 The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) conducts research in its laboratories at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and also supports additional research through grants to major medical institutions across the country. The goals of this research are to find the cause or causes of ALS, understand the mechanisms involved in the progression of the disease, and develop effective treatments. 
  
 National ALS Registry 
  
 Both the NINDS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are committed to studies of disease patterns or risk factors among persons with ALS in order to better understand the causes of ALS, the mechanisms involved in the progression of the disease, and to develop effective treatments. In keeping with this goal, the CDC has launched the National ALS Registry, a program to collect, manage and analyze data about persons with ALS. The Registry includes data from national databases as well as de-identified information provided by persons with ALS. Persons living with ALS who choose to participate can add their information to the Registry by clicking the button below. |||||
Student:
The $115 million raised from 2014's Ice Bucket Challenge for the ALS Association's research and services helped fund what's now being called an "ALS breakthrough," per the Guardian: the ID of a gene linked to the disease, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, which researchers say could lead to better treatment. A study published in Nature Genetics notes the NEK1 gene is tied to 3% of ALS cases, which scientists note is a "significant" association, existing in both inherited and sporadic (arising despite a lack of family history) cases of the eventually fatal neuromuscular illness. "It's very exciting because it shows everyone who contributed to the Ice Bucket Challenge that their donation had an impact on the research," an ALSA exec tells the Guardian. The NEK1 gene was found by examining more than 1,000 ALS families, then boosted through further analysis of more than 13,000 subjects with sporadic ALS, notes Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. The initiative that pinpointed the gene, Project MinE, was partly funded by $1 million from the Ice Bucket Challenge, per the New York Daily News. The project has a lofty goal of sequencing the DNA of 15,000 ALS patients and 7,500 control subjects, hopefully providing enough specimens to compare to bring researchers closer to finding a cure. "The sophisticated gene analysis that led to this finding was only possible because of the large number of ALS samples available," says Lucie Bruijn, the ALSA's chief scientist, per GEBN. "The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled [the ALSA] to invest in Project MinE's work to create large biorepositories of ALS biosamples ... designed to allow exactly this kind of research." (The Ice Bucket Challenge raised a moral issue.)