Our body’s own human cells are outnumbered by the bacteria, fungi and others that live inside us – known as the microbiome.
This has led to research implicating the microbiome in everything from Crohn’s disease to cancer to mental health.
If poo pills are proven to work against superbugs in larger studies then the researchers think they could be used for both treatment and prevention in people at risk.
Medical procedures that suppress the immune system – including cancer therapies and organ transplants – can make the body more vulnerable.
“A lot of these individuals come to a lot of harm from drug resistant organisms,” Dr Merrick.
The UK’s drugs regulator – the Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency – said there were more than 450 microbiome medicines currently in development.
“Some of them will success, so I do think we will seem them coming through quite soon,” said Dr Chrysi Sergaki, the head of microbiome research at the MHRA.
“We could potentially, in the future, replace antibiotics with microbiome [therapies] – that’s the big picture, so there’s a lot of potential.”
