"FMT can be considered a very simple form of organ transplantation that does not require immunological matching of donor and recipient and does not need immunosuppression after the procedure," said Antonio Gasbarrini, professor at the Gemeli University Hospital in Rome, in a statement. "I am delighted that FMT has now been formally recognized as an effective treatment for recurrent C. difficile infection and I hope the technique will now be used more widely in an effort to relieve some of the burden of this troublesome infection."

The notion of treating bacterial problems by introducing more bacteria may represent a change in conventional thinking. Recent estimates indicate that there are approximately 100 trillion microorganisms living in the human body. Understanding the bacterial ecosystem, and our relationship with it, will likely inform the next steps in infection control.

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