Short on cash? OpenBiome, a nonprofit organization focused on fecal microbiota transplantation therapies, is offering up to $13,000 a year for health individuals willing to donate their poo.
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is a relatively new treatment option available to patients infected with C. difficile bacteria. Healthy fecal matter is introduced into the patient’s gut through endoscopy, swallowed capsules, or nasal tubes, and rather than fight back the bacteria like antibiotics, the treatment gets rid of the bacteria altogether.
Donors can earn $40 per sample with a $50 bonus for coming in 5 times a week, up to $13,000 a year, but the screening process is rigorous and very selective. It can leave a donor feeling rather pooped.
“It’s harder to become a donor than it is to get into MIT,” joked co-founder Mark Smith (who would know, as he got his PhD in microbiology there). Of the 1,000 or so potential donors who’ve expressed interest on his Web site over the past two years, only about 4 percent have passed the extensive medical questioning and stool testing.
The process might be worth it to healthy individuals, though, and OpenBiome co-founder Carolyn Edelstein can attest to the difference that a healthy poo can make in patient’s life.
“Everyone thinks it’s great that they’re making money doing such an easy thing,” Edelstein said, “But they also love to hear us say, ‘Look, your poop just helped this lady who’s been sick for nine years go to her daughter’s graduation.'”
For the folks at OpenBiome, their number one priority is a number two.
Source: Washington Post