A US-based company dedicated to microbiome research is offering people $500 (about Rs 41,000) for a single stool sample.
For “high-quality donors” with daily bowel movements, Human Microbes promises an annual pay of around $180,000 (about Rs 1.4 crore).
This peculiar offer comes with the aim of recruiting stool donors to help with their research.
A promotional video on YouTube shows a woman from the company encouraging young, athletic people with exceptional physical and mental health to apply on their website.
The video provides instructions on how to become a "stool donor" and also talks about the significance of donating faecal matter claiming that it can potentially save lives.
The website says its focus is on finding a “quality stool donor” that will be “highly effective as a treatment for most people/conditions.”
Founded in 2020 by Michael Harrop, the company mostly accepts stool donors from the US and Canada. However, they are open to accepting donations from all over the world if the stool is shipped to them in dry ice.
While the idea may seem bizarre, the Human Microbes team believes using stool from healthy donors could help people with gut diseases and severe mental health issues. This method, called faecal microbiota transplantation (FMT), has gained attention for its ability to balance gut bacteria and treat conditions like Clostridium difficile infection and inflammatory bowel disease.