OpenBiome, the stool bank, is opening a storefront in Cambridge, WGBH News reports.
It's hoping to entice people in the area to sell them their poop, WGBH adds. "As demand has gone up for poop, we need more donors," OpenBiome's Majdi Osman says.
However, WGBH notes that only a small fraction of would-be donors make it through the screening process. Greg tells the radio station that he was asked about his family history of colon cancer and recent trips abroad and underwent blood and stool screenings before becoming a donor. He now has a loyalty card, and after giving 10 samples for $40 each, he gets a $25 bonus.
Most often, stool samples like this are used to treat people with recurrent Clostridium difficile infections, which are marked by constant diarrhea. Fecal samples from healthy people aim to restore a balanced gut microbiome.
Because the results for C. difficile have been dramatic, WGBH says there's interest in exploring whether fecal transplants might help other conditions as well. Brown Medical School's Colleen Kelly says that there are hundreds of registered clinical trials involving fecal transplants, though she cautions that "certainly nothing [is] ready for prime time."