How fecal transplants work

Fecal transplants can help treat infections

Fecal transplants aim to transplant healthy gut bacteria into ill patients by transferring (literally) samples of human waste from a healthy patient to a sick patient. The technique has been shown to cure otherwise deadly Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infections and is being studied for a range of other uses.

In 1892, two scientists purposefully infected themselves with cholera bacteria

When they became ill—one with mild diarrhea and the other with severe cholera—researchers pointed to that as proof that the pathogen caused the disease.

Chinese scientists transplanted a pig lung into a human being—but it had to be removed

In August 2025, Chinese scientists transplanted a pig lung into a brain-dead person, a common research step for this type of experimental work. Researchers used CRISPR technology to alter six proteins in the pig genes to make the organ seem less foreign to the human immune system. Within a day there were indications the organ wasn’t functioning well and that the person’s body was rejecting it. Scientists ended the experiment after nine days.

Pooping or puking out pathogens is sometimes recommended with food poisoning

Sometimes stopping food poisoning-linked diarrhea with over-the-counter medications is a bad idea because it may prolong illness. Doctors can advise you if your diarrhea or vomiting is severe about what medications to take and when, but generally doctors recommend trying to stay hydrated during a bout of food poisoning and letting the body naturally remove pathogens from the body via vomiting or diarrhea, as needed.

Food allergies were first documented more than 4,000 years ago

Although food allergies are on the rise in modern times, they have been documented in written records for thousands of years. More than 3,000 years ago, Chinese emperors advised patients to avoid certain foods, and Hippocrates noted in his work that food could cause serious harm to certain individuals, and even lead to death.

Hookworm infection, though risky, may help fight certain autoimmune conditions by tamping down the immune system's inflammatory response.

Vitamin B1 is linked to gut motility—helping fight constipation—in 2026 research

A study published in early 2026 found a link between vitamin B1 and the successful movement of food through your GI tract, known as gut motility. The work incorporated genetic and survey data about poop frequency to identify genes associated with gut motility and then separately linked poop frequency data with how much vitamin B1 people ingested, theorizing that the vitamin supports the production of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that stimulates GI system contractions.

What's next for gut microbiome science?

A Stanford microbiologist explores what we don't yet know about the gut microbiome—such as whether we can engineer the bacterial species within it—and the current scientific advances in the field.

Hippocratic doctors treated severe mental illness with the poisonous plant hellebore

Since symptoms like hallucinations were believed be due to an imbalance of black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm, the treatment at the time was to bring those humors back into balance. That meant standard treatments could include bleeding a patient or using substances like hellebore to induce vomiting or diarrhea.

Without liver bile, human poop would be a pale silver color

Stomach acid and enzymes break down food into smaller particles, expelling a semi-fluid mass called chyme into the small intestine, where bile is added. As the intestines absorb nutrients and water, the chyme solidifies and changes color.

Although rare, HFMD can spreads in pools due to poor bathroom hygiene

In pools with inadequate levels of chlorine, this disease can spread via the poop-to-mouth route, though this isn't one of the most common ways the disease is transmitted. People can become infected by swallowing contaminated pool water after little kids (or their parents) don't do an adequate job removing virus-laden feces from the child before the child enters the water.

How scientists are using molecules found in acidophiles to develop new medical treatments

The Berkeley Pit, an open-pit copper mine in Butte, Montana, that ceased operations in 1982 and is now filled with highly acidic water, is home to various species of fungi and yeast. These extremophiles produce unique compounds that may have anti-inflammatory benefits and have already been used to create an antibiotic for staph infections.

Read a history of how oral rehydration solution was created

Experiments dating back to the 1940s eventually led to the creation and standardization of a mixture of sugar, salt, and clean water that is now widely used globally.

The Chinese market for donkey hides has created a new source of diseases

Since 1992, China’s donkey population has dropped more than 80 percent. This report examines how China’s booming demand for a traditional medicine known as e-jiao, made from collagen from donkey hides, is leading to the slaughter of 6 million African donkeys annually, and providing a new source for zoonotic diseases.

On the benefits of 'fart walks'

Walking has proven benefits for flatulence by kickstarting the process of peristalsis in the bowels and facilitating easier farts and burps. The timely exercise is also correlated with weight loss (as well as potentially reduced opportunities for social embarrassment).

A doctor answers the internet's burning questions about the gut

Gastroenterologist Dr. Ugo Iroku answers the internet’s burning questions about digestion and bowel movements. Get the lowdown on what it means when your stuff is super dark, the impact of coffee on evacuating bowels, and much more.

History's weirdest weight loss fads, fact-checked

Nothing catches popular attention more than a claim to have found a quick weight-loss technique. History shows us such claims are often unfounded. Dr. Michael Mosley explores extreme weight-loss tips from history, from tapeworms to vinegar diets.

Scientists now know why wombats poop cubes

For years, scientists have been wondering why wombat poop is cube-shaped (yes, really). Now, they say they have got to the bottom of the mystery.

Scientists turn alchemists, transforming transform lead into gold

Fulfilling alchemists' dreams, scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) transmute lead into gold. While the 86 billion gold nuclei produced were short-lived, the experiment sheds light on how electromagnetic fields can play a critical role in nuclear transmutation.

A history of China's ancient hidden tombs

Like many ancient cultures, the Chinese had a tradition of burying the dead in elaborate tombs, which would serve as both burial places and residences for the deceased. Archaeological evidence of these tombs, including those of former emperors, provides insights into the country's cultural evolution.

Finding the way home through flavor

In the fall of 1996, 9-year-old Alvin Chang rushed into his family's kitchen to find his grandmother making his absolute favorite dish: kimchi. This interactive story follows Chang's yearslong attempt to recreate the flavor from his childhood home.

The medieval influencer who convinced people to drink tea

This article explains how the world shifted from mostly eating tea, whether as leaves to be chewed or caffeinated soup to be slurped, to drinking it. Lu Yu's first exposure to tea in the 700s didn't go so well, with him reviewing the concoction as...

Read a deep dive on the 'all-purpose healing' peptide BPC-157.

An anthropologist spent years riding garbage trucks to understand what our trash says about us

Robin Nagle rode with New York City sanitation workers to trace the hidden life of what we throw out. Her research explores what the things we discard reveal about who we are. 1440 explores the hidden life of trash.

A list of one guy's hundreds of fortune cookie fortunes

Simple idea: Eat lots of Chinese food, collect wisdom in the form of fortunes. Josh Madison held onto hundreds of these and lists them here, noting the ones he received more than once with a number.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

Steve Jobs tried to treat his cancer with alternative medicine

After Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he reportedly restricted his diet to just fruits or just fruits and vegetables, tried out hydrotherapy, and consulted psychics. There’s compelling evidence about the impact of alternative medicine on cancer patients.

A vegetarian diet is part of the Lunar New Year tradition

In keeping with China’s long history of Buddhism, which encourages vegetarianism, particularly on the first and 15th day of the lunar month, many people eat a plant-based diet (or at least a plant-based meal) on the first day of the Lunar New Year. The custom is supposed to increase participants’ good karma, bringing them extra blessings for the year to come.

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

Volcanic activity may have triggered the Black Death by spewing gases that led to crop failures in Europe, thus forcing the import of grain ships with plague-infested fleas.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

Explore what it's like inside a patient isolation unit, used in situations such as treating a patient or suspected patient with Ebola.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Elk Cloner, the first computer virus to spread in public, was written as a practical joke by Richard Skrenta, a Pittsburgh high school student.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

Explore fun facts from the USPS, including unique post office buildings, a stamp that traveled past Pluto, and more.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

In 1939, baseball star Lou Gehrig delivered his inspirational 'Luckiest Man' speech after retiring due to the health condition that now bears his name.

After the Boston Tea Party, colonists switched to coffee, which became the main morning drink for revolutionaries.