this post was submitted on 07 May 2024
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I'm sorry, what transplants?
people with certain medical issues in their bowels can be cured of them by a fecal transplant from someone who is a good donor. It usually means a family member. The purpose is to treat bowel infections. Pretty neat shit.
Actually i think it's usually pretty diluted
South park aired an episode about it with a Dune twist.
Still the best adaptation.
It's about the microbiome, lots of critters living in your bowels breaking down stuff for you. Some conditions or treatments (e.g. chemo) can fuck with that severely up to completely obliterate everything so you need a donor to get it started up again.
Most of your body’s mass does not have a human genome, it represents other living things existing in symbiosis with your body. And your digestive tract is nearly 100% reliant on these microbiota to break down food and provide it to the small intestine. If you don’t have the right mix/balance or you have too many of the wrong species, you can suffer extremely deleterious health effects. If you have none at all, you starve pretty quickly regardless of how much food you eat.
Fun facts:
They demolished that room when I was 5.