9/02/2010 PERMALINK
Scientists examine new ways to manipulate the microorganisms inside you. ITEM: Earlier this summer, scientists reported the success of an unusual medical transplant; a woman with a life-threatening Clostridium difficile infection was treated, and apparently cured, with an injection of some of her healthy husband's gut bacteria. Researchers are now exploring the effects of this type of transplant in greater detail. They hope to eventually treat a wide range of ailments--from bowel diseases to obesity, diabetes to depression--by manipulating the bacteria that live in the human gut.