https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/11/australia-gives-world-first-approval-for-faecal-transplants-to-restore-gut-health [p] Skip to main contentSkip to navigation Advertisement Print subscriptions Sign in Search jobs Search US edition[ ] * US edition * UK edition * Australia edition * International edition The Guardian - Back to homeThe Guardian [ ] * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle ShowMoreShow More * [ ]News + View all News + US news + World news + Environment + Soccer + US politics + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Fight to vote * [ ]Opinion + View all Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * [ ]Sport + View all Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL + F1 * [ ]Culture + View all Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * [ ]Lifestyle + View all Lifestyle + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money * Search input [ ] google-search Search + Support us + Print subscriptions * [ ]US edition + UK edition + Australia edition + International edition + Europe edition * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian content licensing site + The Guardian app + Video + Podcasts + Pictures + Inside the Guardian + Guardian Weekly + Crosswords + Corrections * + Facebook + Twitter * + Search jobs + Digital Archive + Guardian Puzzles app + Guardian content licensing site * World * Europe * US * Americas * Asia * Australia * Middle East * Africa * Inequality * Global development Health Australia gives world-first approval for faecal transplants to restore gut health BiomeBank in Adelaide collects healthy genetic material from the microbiomes of donors to treat potentially deadly bacterial condition * Follow our Australia news live blog for the latest updates * Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Staff culturing bacteria at the BiomeBank laboratory [ ] Staff culturing bacteria at the BiomeBank laboratory, which is the first in the world to receive regulatory approval for faecal microbiota transplants. Photograph: Andrew Beveridge/BiomeBank Staff culturing bacteria at the BiomeBank laboratory, which is the first in the world to receive regulatory approval for faecal microbiota transplants. Photograph: Andrew Beveridge/BiomeBank Tory Shepherd Thu 10 Nov 2022 09.00 ESTLast modified on Thu 10 Nov 2022 15.31 EST * * * Australia has given regulatory approval for faecal transplants, the first country in the world to do so. For such a transplant, poo donors - who have to meet a list of conditions - provide healthy genetic material from their microbiomes. The microbes are collected and delivered into the gastrointestinal tract of an unhealthy person, where they have been shown to treat conditions such as the potentially deadly bacteria Clostridium difficile colitis (C diff). Transplants are currently delivered through the colon, but oral delivery is expected to be available before too long. BiomeBank, in Adelaide, is the first company in the world to have regulatory approval for a donor-derived microbiome therapy. * Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup The Therapeutic Goods Administration granted approval for faecal microbiota transplants as a low-risk biological for the "restoration of gut microbiota in the management of gastrointestinal disorders". The managing director of BiomeBank, Sam Costello, said the product had been provisionally available to patients for several years, but regulation would ensure "essentially a pharmaceutical standard". "We're the first to meet that standard," he said. "That approval should give doctors confidence to prescribe this therapy." Human microbiomes - particularly in western countries - have become increasingly depleted from both environmental and dietary changes. Super poo: the emerging science of stool transplants and designer gut bacteria Read more Studies have found links between the microbiome and mental health, cancer, immunity, obesity and other conditions. The TGA approval is only for the treatment of recurrent C diff, but Costello said it opened a path to approve microbiome therapies for other conditions. C diff is a common gut bacteria that can turn toxic and cause severe diarrhoea and illness in vulnerable people. It often spreads in hospitals and can be resistant to treatment. BiomeBank has been building a library with strains of bacteria from donors to tackle C diff and, eventually, other disorders. BiomeBank's head of donor screening, Dr Emily Tucker, said it had been a challenge to get the right donors since the pandemic subsided. While people were unable to travel they weren't picking up exotic gut parasites, and fewer people were getting sick as a side effect of avoiding Covid, so there were fewer colds or antibiotic prescriptions, all of which rule out potential donors. Sign up to Guardian Australia's Afternoon Update Free daily newsletter Our Australian afternoon update email breaks down the key national and international stories of the day and why they matter Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Good donors are sometimes called unicorns because they are so rare. They have to be screened and assessed as healthy before making a donation in a special donor room, after which the right strains of bacteria are isolated and categorised. The donors receive a small compensation for their time. "It has been tricky," Tucker said. "But we've got a good collection of donors now. It's hard work to find them, but they become really engaged and driven by the desire to provide something that does so much good." As for those on the receiving end, Tucker says people should speak to their doctor. "There are very well-defined criteria for which patients would be able to have this therapy," she said. The next stage, Costello said, was to create a second-generation artificial version that can be scaled up and taken to the world - a "super poo" that can target specific diseases. "Our main ambition is to create a cultured version of the product," he said. "We have a large culture collection of strains, of individual bacteria that have been collected from these screened donors and we are working to culture these together to create an artificial version of a faecal community. "Such a therapy would have advantages in the sense it wouldn't need donors and would be able to be more closely defined in its composition and also scalable so you could supply a far larger number of patients more easily." Topics * Health * Microbiology * Medical research * Biology * news * * * * * * Reuse this content Most viewed Most viewed * World * Europe * US * Americas * Asia * Australia * Middle East * Africa * Inequality * Global development * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning Sign up for our email * About us * Contact us * Complaints & corrections * SecureDrop * Work for us * Privacy policy * Cookie policy * Terms & conditions * Help * All topics * All writers * Digital newspaper archive * Facebook * YouTube * Instagram * LinkedIn * Twitter * Newsletters * Advertise with us * Guardian Labs * Search jobs Back to top (c) 2022 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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