A colleague forwarded an article to me thinking it was funny, however, those who know me, know that I read everything! Lo and behold, it is actually true, the first poo transplant has been officially approved in Australia, the first of its kind in the world! Sounds a little disgusting, doesn’t it? Well, if you understand the human GI tract or “gut” you know that there are trillions of microbes and thousands of species living in there and they are essential to gut health. Sadly, due to overuse of antibiotics, less diverse diets, and other medical treatments, the microbes in many people are damaged making it difficult to maintain a healthy gut. 

Bring on the poo! Yep, taking the poo of someone with a healthy gut and inserting it in someone with an unhealthy gut to “repopulate the bacterial microenvironment with healthy microorganisms,” Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) is being used to “cure” C-diff! Imagine, changing the course of a disease that often kills the frail elderly simply by implanting poo. What is also interesting is that researchers have evidence that it can work to treat ulcerative colitis and other types of inflammatory bowel disease! What a huge quality of life improvement this treatment could have on tons of people! 

Too add some humor, donors of poo are referred to as “unicorns” and they must be free of any chronic GI disorders or infectious diseases. They also cannot have had any recent courses of antibiotics or be immunocompromised. So, how does the poo get where it needs to go? Well, the good news is it isn’t taken orally, it is frozen at -80C then thawed just before the physician uses a colonoscope to implant the donor poo in the recipient’s colon. Researchers are working on a capsule that could be taken orally but the advantage of delivering via a scope is that a larger amount can be implanted at one time. BiomeBank (the research and development group) is working on a second-generation treatment called “super poo” where specific strains can be isolated and replicated without the need for a donor. To quote the author of the article, “plenty of smart Australians are doing some really good s**t!” Stay the course and stay informed!