People bank blood. Why not faeces?
Storing your stools when you are young may help you later in life
It never hurts to put something aside for a rainy day. And not just money can be put in a bank. Blood from donors is routinely banked, too. And some parents bank blood from their child’s umbilical cord, on the off-chance that stem-cells therein will prove useful for the future treatment of bone-marrow cancer. But three researchers at Harvard Medical School propose going further. They suggest people consider banking deposits, as it were, of their faeces.
This article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline “A little something in the bank”
More from Science & technology
Should you worry about microplastics?
Little is known about the effects on humans—but limiting exposure to them seems prudent
Wasps stole genes from viruses
That probably assisted their evolutionary diversification
America’s departure from the WHO would harm everyone
Whether it is a negotiating ploy remains to be seen
Genetic engineering could help rid Australia of toxic cane toads
It is better than freezing them to death
High-tech antidotes for snake bites
Genetic engineering and AI are powering the search for antivenins
Can you breathe stress away?
It won’t hurt to try. But scientists are only beginning to understand the links between the breath and the mind