A non-profit company called OpenBiome is paying for people’s stool samples, to develop lifesaving faecal transplant treatments for people infected with Clostridium difficile.
C. difficile is highly resistant to antibiotics, and can cause severe diarrhoea that hospitalises around 14,000 people a year in the UK.
It usually develops in people who have
already been put on antibiotics for something else, which is what makes it so hard to treat. The infection almost completely wipes out a patient’s microbiota – so much so that conventional probiotics aren’t enough to replace them. A faecal transplant is the best treatment for C. difficile, which was traditionally administered through a colonoscopy or invasive nasogastric tubes. The process is tricky, but has very high success rates – and a new method makes administration of the sample even simpler. Now, a capsule of frozen faecal matter can be inserted, which thaws out in the body and releases the contents into the small intestines. These capsules are what OpenBiome are developing, turning them into ready-to-administer treatment capsules. However, they don’t just accept any old sh*t. ‘It’s different than donating blood,’ the company says on their website. ‘Our stool donors go through at least two rounds of rigorous screens that involve blood and stool tests, and come in to our lab in Medford, MA as many as five days a week for at least 60 days.’ To compensate you for your time and, erm, effort, OpenBiome pay around $40 per donated sample with a $50 kicker if you go five times a week. It’s just in the US for now – but if you’re dedicated enough to go to Massachusetts, go for it. You could stand to make $250 (£166) a week, after all. if you wish to donate, please do Google about them and start making some green!!!
already been put on antibiotics for something else, which is what makes it so hard to treat. The infection almost completely wipes out a patient’s microbiota – so much so that conventional probiotics aren’t enough to replace them. A faecal transplant is the best treatment for C. difficile, which was traditionally administered through a colonoscopy or invasive nasogastric tubes. The process is tricky, but has very high success rates – and a new method makes administration of the sample even simpler. Now, a capsule of frozen faecal matter can be inserted, which thaws out in the body and releases the contents into the small intestines. These capsules are what OpenBiome are developing, turning them into ready-to-administer treatment capsules. However, they don’t just accept any old sh*t. ‘It’s different than donating blood,’ the company says on their website. ‘Our stool donors go through at least two rounds of rigorous screens that involve blood and stool tests, and come in to our lab in Medford, MA as many as five days a week for at least 60 days.’ To compensate you for your time and, erm, effort, OpenBiome pay around $40 per donated sample with a $50 kicker if you go five times a week. It’s just in the US for now – but if you’re dedicated enough to go to Massachusetts, go for it. You could stand to make $250 (£166) a week, after all. if you wish to donate, please do Google about them and start making some green!!!
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