Beyond FMT

Yes, it is time to move beyond fecal matter transplants (FMTs) and it is also very hard.

As I mentioned in a previous post, the success of FMTs against C. diff infections is our "existence proof" (in the same way that Demis Hassabis calls the human brain the existence proof for the field of AI): proof that the right consortium of microbial organisms works.

But because all the points raised in this article are absolutely correct (we don't fully know what is in FMTs and in what quantities, etc), replicating that success with defined consortia has been an elusive goal. Host-microbiome interactions make predictive in vitro studies even harder.

Rooting for you Kanvas Biosciences!