The Promise of Poop

Science 30 August 2013:
Vol. 341 no. 6149 pp. 954-957
DOI: 10.1126/science.341.6149.954

• News Focus

Medical Research

The Promise of Poop

1. Jop de Vrieze*

A controlled clinical trial published in January 2013 has shown that fecal transplants can help cure recurrent infections with Clostridium difficile. Researchers think patients with other diseases, too, may benefit from the procedure, but much more study is needed. Meanwhile, scientists are trying to understand the underlying mechanisms and hoping that, in the future, they will be able to transplant selected bacterial strains instead of human stool.

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  ↵* Jop de Vrieze is a science writer in Amsterdam.
  
  

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