Scientists want to create a poo bank

Future faecal transplants have ‘better potential’ than umbilical cord blood - and could be used to reverse ageing

Depositing your poo to be stored on ice for use later in life could soon become the norm, if scientists get their way.

Gut health researchers want to create a bank of stool samples, in a similar fashion to what is already done with umbilical cord blood.

They believe faecal microbiota transplants (FMT) — the transfer of healthy bacteria found in stools — offer 'greater potential' than cord blood.

Umbilical cord blood, which is rich in stem cells, can be used to treat some cancers, immune system deficiencies, and certain genetic disorders.

But FMT could hold the key to treating conditions like asthma, multiple sclerosis and diabetes. And they could also treat obesity and ageing in the future, experts believe.

The suggestion, made by a team from Harvard Medical School, was published in the journal Trends in Molecular Medicine.

FMTs are already used to treat recurrent bacterial gut infections, such as Clostridium difficile (C diff).

Transplants are normally delivered through a tube inserted directly into the stomach through the nose. But bacteria can also be deposited directly into the colon through surgery or swallowed via a pill.