This time two years ago, our social media newsfeeds were awash with footage of friends and family members dousing themselves in ice-cold water all in the name of charity.

And as the public became more and more creative with the execution of their own Ice Bucket Challenge, it wasn't long before many of us forgot the main aim of the endeavour, and simply went around nominating mates for a freezing.

Gaining momentum in the US, the Ice Bucket Challenge was born of a desire to raise awareness of ALS – also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease – and it looks like what many ultimately considered an internet fad has paid off in ways few would have anticipated.

According to numerous reports emerging from the States today, one million of the $115 million raised went towards Project MinE which has aided in the identification of a gene responsible for the degenerative disease – a development which has brought scientists closer to treating the disease which sees the rapid deterioration of patients within just five years. 

Commenting on the breakthrough, Dr. Lucie Bruijin, Chief Scientist at the ALS Association said: "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."

In Ireland, our own version of the Ice Bucket Challenge raised a staggering €1.4 million for Motor Neurones Disease.