Resumen de The DIY gut-bug swap
A group of microbiologists writing in Nature called for the FDA to change the rules on fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), and for regulators around the world to work out how to deal with the procedure. The technique has shown most promise for treating people infected with Clostridium difficile, a bacterium that colonizes people's gut when antibiotics have obliterated the other inhabitants, sometimes to fatal effect. The results of a clinical trial using FMT to treat people with recurring C. difficile infections, the first ever for any FMT treatment, were published last year. Fifteen out of 16 people given transplants were cured of their infections, compared with 4 of 13 patients receiving standard antibiotics. Here, Hamzelou asks why people are doing FMT at home.
