Taking a gander at one’s fecal matter isn’t exactly the most tempting of prospects, not even when the color of the said fecal matter is up in the air (or rather, in the bowl) and could be just about any color of the rainbow, courtesy of a yoghurt-like product.
Indeed, the very thought is such that...wait, poop that comes in a variety of colors? Yep, you heard right. But more than being a morbid prank, the multicolored poop was would serve a very valuable service; being able to indicate the presence of e.coli bacteria in the stomach.
And scientists are hopeful that in the future, their creation could be used to test for other diseases through the same colorful process, including colorectal cancer, stomach ulcers, and worms.
The yoghurt-style product works by interacting with the bacteria in the gut, changing colors depending on the type of disease and severity of it. In the specific case of the e.coli testing yoghurt, it works by containing special DNA sequences called BioBricks, which change into specific colors when they encounter e.coli bacteria. One need simply down the yoghurt, wait for their next journey to the loo, and check the resulting mess to definitely see if e.coli bacteria is present in their gut.
The general idea could even be extended to test whether drinking water is safe, say E. Chromi designers Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg and James King, Cambridge University. The project is still in its infancy however, with the team currently traveling around showing off the current version of E. Chromi to curious onlookers; complete with a display case that appears to contain six dried up pieces of poop, all of which come speckled with different colors.
The E. Chromi illness-detecting yoghurt-style drink should prove especially beneficial to those in third world countries, where diseases are rife, and testing facilities and technology are not up to modern standards. That is of course, if they don't mind a little poop-gazing.
