OpenBiome
OpenBiome is a nonprofit organization in Somerville, Massachusetts which operates a public stool bank and supports research on the human microbiome.
OpenBiome distributes material to hospitals and clinics to support the treatment of C. difficile, the most common pathogen causing hospital-acquired infection in the U.S.[1] OpenBiome provides frozen preparations of screened and filtered human stool for use in fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) therapies. OpenBiome can provide clinicians with three different formulations: a high-concentration "FMP 30" formulation for delivery via the upper gastrointestinal tract, a lower-concentration "FMP 250" for delivery via the lower gastrointestinal tract, and, as of October 2015, a capsule formulation. As of March 2017, OpenBiome had provided over 20,000 treatments to 50 states and 7 countries.[2]
In 2015, OpenBiome announced the launch of PersonalBiome, a stool banking program through which individuals could store their stool for future use in fecal transplantation after microbial dysbiosis.[3]
OpenBiome was founded in 2012 by Mark Smith, a microbiology student at MIT, and James Burgess, an MBA student at the MIT Sloan School of Management.[4] It is the first public stool bank, and was founded to facilitate use of FMT.[5] The logistical burdens associated with screening and processing fecal material have made it difficult for clinicians to offer FMT to patients with recurrent C. difficile infections.[6]
- ↑ Magill, SS; Edwards, JR; Bamberg, W; Beldavs, ZG; Dumyati, G; Kainer, MA; Lynfield, R; Maloney, M; McAllister-Hollod, L; Nadle, J; Ray, SM; Thompson, DL; Wilson, LE; Fridkin, SK (27 Mar 2014). "Multistate point-prevalence survey of health care-associated infections". N Engl J Med. 370 (13): 1198–1208. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1306801. PMC 4648343. PMID 24670166.
- ↑ http://www.healio.com/gastroenterology/infection/news/print/healio-gastroenterology/%7B4b5a466e-6275-4877-b245-581e8181e2be%7D/onsite-with-openbiome
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/opinion/sunday/should-we-bank-our-own-stool.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=opinion-c-col-right-region®ion=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=1
- ↑ Glenn, David (3 Feb 2014). "Student-led Project Banks on Promise of Fecal Transplants". The Chronicle for Higher Education. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ↑ Smith, Peter Andrey (17 Feb 2014). "A New Kind of Transplant Bank". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
- ↑ Johnson, Carolyn (24 Feb 2014). "Fecal transplant safety is goal of stool bank". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 14 July 2014.