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.
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.
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]
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?
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?
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).
> "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."
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.
I once ate too much red velvet cake, and had the experience of pooping a bright red. Yes, it was a bit shocking, but funny once I knew what happened. If I were expecting it, I'd have been able to delight in the weirdness.
I got the chance to do this later on, however: I took a medicine for a urine tract infection which made my urine look nearly neon yellow. I knew it was possible, and it wasn't a big deal. Expecting the color change makes a difference.
>>>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
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.
