Waste Not

“At MaaT Pharma’s manufacturing center on the outskirts of Lyon in southeast France, a motherlode of human poo arrives every few months. From a white courier van, the refrigerated samples—individually packaged in sealed bags—are whisked to a biocontainment laboratory. There, a technician injects each pouch with a chemical solution. This liquefies the contents to maximize the volume of, um, material that can be extracted while preserving and protecting bacteria from damage … If the idea raises a giggle, you aren’t alone—even those working in the field acknowledge the near-unlimited potential for schoolyard humor. But it’s a deadly serious endeavor: MaaT is a pioneer in using fecal-based therapies to treat cancer.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Quest to Turn Human Waste Into Medicine.