You Can Now Sell Your Poop For $13K a Year and Save Lives

OpenBiome (The Microbiome Health
Research Institute) is a center
dedicated to giving wide access to
Fecal Microbiota Transplantation
Procedures (FMTs). An FMT is basically
transplanting someone else’s fecal
matter in to another person’s colon.
While this may seem crazy, it is to
induce the growth of “good” bacteria
for the body to replace the ones that
had been killed off due to antibiotic
exposure. The exposure leads to “bad”
bacteria, particularly Clostridium
Difficile, being formed and causing
infections.

While traditional surgeries to perform
fecal transplants have been invasive
such as nasogastric tubes and
colonoscopies, a new treatment which
involves transplanting capsules of frozen
fecal matter is much less invasive and
just as effective.

OpenBiome pays donors for their fecal
matter and stores it in their labs. Of
course not everybody can donate. There
is a strict medical process that the
poop goes through for the donor to be
marked as legit. People who fit the
age and BMI for the job and who live
near the donor lab at Medford,
Massachusetts undergo stool and blood
testing. After this they are allowed to
donate for up to 60 days, four days per
week. They are then reevaluated.

There are perks for those that donate
five times a week or give the biggest
sample but generally you get $250 per
week or $13000 per year for your
donations.