This is What's Trending Today:
这里是今日热点节目。
Do you remember the Ice Bucket Challenge in 2014?
你还记得2014年的冰桶挑战吗？
Just in case you do not, here is a little history.
为了防止你不记得了，我们回顾一下这段小历史。
Two years ago, some people dared friends to pour a bucket filled with ice water over their heads. If the friends refused, they were required to donate money to help finance research into a brain disease. Most of them took the cold water and donated money, too.
两年前，有人挑战朋友在他们自己头上浇上一桶冰水。如果这位朋友拒绝这么做，他们会被要求捐款资助研究一种大脑疾病。大多数人接受了这一挑战并且捐了钱。
Many people recorded themselves getting covered with freezing water. They posted the videos on social media websites, such as YouTube. Then they dared others to pass the challenge.
许多人拍摄下自己被冰水浇上的视频，并把这些视频发到Youtube之类的社交网站上。然后他们挑战其他人通过这一挑战。
As the campaign grew in popularity, sports stars, politicians and media celebrities got involved. Lots of other people did, too. Eventually, the campaign raised over $100 million for an organization called the ALS Association.
随着这一活动的逐渐流行，体育明星、政客和媒体名人都参与了进来，还有很多人也参与了进来。最终，该活动为美国渐冻症协会募集了超过1亿美元资金。
ALS is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Doctors first recognized the brain disease in the 1800s. ALS became known across the United States in 1939 when baseball star Lou Gehrig retired from the New York Yankees because of the condition.
渐冻症（ALS）是肌萎缩性侧索硬化症的简称。19世纪医生首次认识到这种疾病。1939年渐冻症在美国到处闻名，当时棒球明星葛雷克（Lou Gehrig）由于这种疾病从纽约洋基队退役。
ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Eventually, patients cannot control their muscles. They become paralyzed. Most patients will die within five years after they develop the disease.
渐冻症作用于大脑和脊髓中的神经细胞。最终患者无法控制自己的肌肉。他们开始瘫痪。大多数患者患病后会在5年内死亡。
Earlier this week, the ALS Association announced that money raised by the Ice Bucket Challenge financed a discovery.
本周早些时候，美国渐冻症协会宣布，冰桶挑战募集的资金资助了一项发现。
Researchers working on a project called MinE announced they identified a gene that is partly responsible for the disease. The gene is called NEK1.
MinE项目的研究人员宣布，他们发现了一种对该疾病负有部分责任的基因，这种基因被称之为NEK1。
The study involved researchers from 11 countries. They looked at the NEK1 gene and found that it was present in ALS patients whose parents also suffered from the disease.
这项研究涉及到了来自11个国家的研究人员。他们研究了NEK1基因，并发现它在那些父母同样患有此病的渐冻症患者身上有出现。
One of the doctors involved said "the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge enabled us to secure funding from new sources in new parts of the world."
一位参与研究的医生表示，“冰桶挑战使我们能够获得源自世界新的地区的新的资助。”
And that's What's Trending Today.
以上就是本期今日热点的全部内容。
I'm Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth.
我是Mehrnoush Karimian-Ainsworth。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)