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Color-Changing Poop to Diagnose Bowel Problems

45 points by curtis 10y ago

19eightyfour 10y ago
Doesn't it change color naturally and indicate? If it ain't broken... Why does it need to be easier? Biome is important. Don't mess with it. This technology is probably not for me. But you're welcome to make your poo rainbow if you want to take that risk.
- temp246810 10y ago
  >>>The physical appearance of your bowel movements can already reveal a lot about your body’s digestive health, and color changes can even indicate more severe problems. But scientists at Rice University want to make it even easier to spot medical problems in your colon, by tinting your poop a rainbow of different colors Literally the first line.
  - deleted 10y ago
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- deleted 10y ago
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- inimino 10y ago
  You already have e. coli in your gut, adding some with a diagnostic feature is not changing your biome any more than eating a yogurt.
  - 19eightyfour 10y ago
    It's hard to know now if such diagnostic reactions, and vectors that produce them shall be inert to a biome. So the above statement misrepresents the risk.
stagbeetle 10y ago
I think you're going to have a serious marketing and UX problem if this is going to be adapted to the general public. People already get alarmed if their urine is a few shades darker than usual, then scramble to WebMD (what a terrible service) to find out which flavor of cancer they've acquired. Hyperbole, but I think my point is clear. The instant shock of seeing bright green in the bowl is more than enough to hinder widespread adoption. Perhaps it could be useful as an as-needed test, administrated by doctors in-lieu of blood tests?
- failrate 10y ago
  That is likely the intent. It seems likely that you would have different doses for different diseases, probably with some overlap (akin to Gram-staining, for example).
  - stagbeetle 10y ago
    The author was focused on consumer applications: > "And instead of producing green fluorescent proteins, the sensor bacteria, easily ingested by just eating a pro-biotic yogurt, could produce an enzyme that makes a colored pigment that would dye someone’s stool, making the color change easy to spot after a bowel movement."The development of such bacteria would also help reduce the need for repeated doctor visits or expensive procedures like colonoscopies. If only every medical test was as simple as eating what you probably already eat for breakfast."
    - failrate 10y ago
      I disagree with that interpretation based on the text you have selected. It does not reference a consumer market (which would be a nightmare scenario if this popped up in health food stores), and explicitly uses the term "medical test". If you have a colorectal or digestive problem, you are already bringing stool samples from home to the lab, and dosing on a diagnostic substance prior is common enough before different examinations (for example, radioactive iodine). I think that this approach is just combining the two with a novel bacterial agent.
- 10y ago
gdxform 10y ago
As a side note, I learned from a gastroenterologist that the human digestive system isn't a FIFO queue. In fact, the intestines sort food, so that some components of meals can overtake other ones. Fat and protein move more slowly because they need extra processing.
- Neliquat 10y ago
  Wow, thats a mindfsck. I never even considered something so obvious. Thanks for sharing that tidbit. Must also be why eating more fat and protien keeps us satiated longer.
jamessb 10y ago
This reminds me of the E.chromi scatalog: in 2009, the Cambridge iGEM team created a set of "color generator" biobricks that produced various pigments (carotenoids, melanin, violacein) [1], which led into a conceptual design project by Daisy Ginsberg and James King [2, 3] The concept was that: >The patient ingests a drink, much like a probiotic shake, laced with the engineered E. coli; the bacteria react with the enzymes, proteins, and other chemicals that are present in the gastrointestinal tract and turn different colors for different diseases, thus changing the color of the patient’s feces. [4] [1]: http://2009.igem.org/Team:Cambridge/Project/Pigments http://2009.igem.org/Team:Cambridge/Project/Pigments [2]: https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/growyourown/echromi https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/growyourown/echromi [3]: http://www.daisyginsberg.com/work/echromi-living-colour-from-bacteria http://www.daisyginsberg.com/work/echromi-living-colour-from... [4]: http://inhabitat.com/e-chromi-designer-bacteria-will-color-your-poop-according-to-what-ails-you/ http://inhabitat.com/e-chromi-designer-bacteria-will-color-y...
Neliquat 10y ago
Cue the pooping rainbows gifs. This seems especially good for work in the feild, particularly 3rd world countries without nearby labs. Are they accurate enough for diag or only as a starting point for more tests?

45 points by curtis 10y ago

Doesn't it change color naturally and indicate? If it ain't broken... Why does it need to be easier? Biome is important. Don't mess with it. This technology is probably not for me. But you're welcome to make your poo rainbow if you want to take that risk.

temp246810 10y ago
>>>The physical appearance of your bowel movements can already reveal a lot about your body’s digestive health, and color changes can even indicate more severe problems. But scientists at Rice University want to make it even easier to spot medical problems in your colon, by tinting your poop a rainbow of different colors Literally the first line.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
inimino 10y ago
You already have e. coli in your gut, adding some with a diagnostic feature is not changing your biome any more than eating a yogurt.
- 19eightyfour 10y ago
  It's hard to know now if such diagnostic reactions, and vectors that produce them shall be inert to a biome. So the above statement misrepresents the risk.

stagbeetle 10y ago

I think you're going to have a serious marketing and UX problem if this is going to be adapted to the general public. People already get alarmed if their urine is a few shades darker than usual, then scramble to WebMD (what a terrible service) to find out which flavor of cancer they've acquired. Hyperbole, but I think my point is clear. The instant shock of seeing bright green in the bowl is more than enough to hinder widespread adoption. Perhaps it could be useful as an as-needed test, administrated by doctors in-lieu of blood tests?

failrate 10y ago
That is likely the intent. It seems likely that you would have different doses for different diseases, probably with some overlap (akin to Gram-staining, for example).
- stagbeetle 10y ago
  The author was focused on consumer applications: > "And instead of producing green fluorescent proteins, the sensor bacteria, easily ingested by just eating a pro-biotic yogurt, could produce an enzyme that makes a colored pigment that would dye someone’s stool, making the color change easy to spot after a bowel movement."The development of such bacteria would also help reduce the need for repeated doctor visits or expensive procedures like colonoscopies. If only every medical test was as simple as eating what you probably already eat for breakfast."
  - failrate 10y ago
    I disagree with that interpretation based on the text you have selected. It does not reference a consumer market (which would be a nightmare scenario if this popped up in health food stores), and explicitly uses the term "medical test". If you have a colorectal or digestive problem, you are already bringing stool samples from home to the lab, and dosing on a diagnostic substance prior is common enough before different examinations (for example, radioactive iodine). I think that this approach is just combining the two with a novel bacterial agent.
10y ago

gdxform 10y ago

As a side note, I learned from a gastroenterologist that the human digestive system isn't a FIFO queue. In fact, the intestines sort food, so that some components of meals can overtake other ones. Fat and protein move more slowly because they need extra processing.

Neliquat 10y ago
Wow, thats a mindfsck. I never even considered something so obvious. Thanks for sharing that tidbit. Must also be why eating more fat and protien keeps us satiated longer.

jamessb 10y ago

This reminds me of the E.chromi scatalog: in 2009, the Cambridge iGEM team created a set of "color generator" biobricks that produced various pigments (carotenoids, melanin, violacein) [1], which led into a conceptual design project by Daisy Ginsberg and James King [2, 3] The concept was that: >The patient ingests a drink, much like a probiotic shake, laced with the engineered E. coli; the bacteria react with the enzymes, proteins, and other chemicals that are present in the gastrointestinal tract and turn different colors for different diseases, thus changing the color of the patient’s feces. [4] [1]: http://2009.igem.org/Team:Cambridge/Project/Pigments http://2009.igem.org/Team:Cambridge/Project/Pigments [2]: https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/growyourown/echromi https://dublin.sciencegallery.com/growyourown/echromi [3]: http://www.daisyginsberg.com/work/echromi-living-colour-from-bacteria http://www.daisyginsberg.com/work/echromi-living-colour-from... [4]: http://inhabitat.com/e-chromi-designer-bacteria-will-color-your-poop-according-to-what-ails-you/ http://inhabitat.com/e-chromi-designer-bacteria-will-color-y...

Neliquat 10y ago

Cue the pooping rainbows gifs. This seems especially good for work in the feild, particularly 3rd world countries without nearby labs. Are they accurate enough for diag or only as a starting point for more tests?