Collaborator Justin Chen created OpenBiome to help a close friend who contracted a life-threatening C. difficile infection after surgery.

OpenBiome is a pioneering nonprofit that accelerates bold discoveries in microbiome science — ethically and equitably — to improve health for all.

Clostridioides difficile is a rod-shaped bacteria that infects about 500,000 people in the United States each year, leading to 30,000 deaths. C. difficile s the most common hospital-acquired infection in the United States and is classified as an urgent antibiotic-resistant threat by the Centers for Disease and Health Control and Prevention. Typically it infects the large intestine where it produces toxins that kill cells and cause inflammation. Patients experience nausea, diarrhea, and chronic diarrhea. In severe cases, patients may experience watery diarrhea as often as 15 times a day and life-threatening weight loss.

Understanding this mysterious part of our body is key to unlocking the future of medicine. At OpenBiome Lab, they´ve seen the life-saving power of bacteria firsthand and focus on:
-Catalyzing Research: Building and sharing the world's most globally representative microbiome library.
-Creating Advancing Therapies: Alleviating suffering around the world—starting with Clostridioides difficile and malnutrition.
-Expanding Scientific Capacity: Supporting and training frontline researchers in low-middle-income countries.

Investigational FMT is a therapy that is not approved by the FDA and must be accessed under an approved research protocol. Currently, is still necessary a consult with a doctor about whether an investigational FMT is an appropriate option.

Source of information: https://openbiome.org/about-us/story/
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