A company is on the hunt for the perfect poo – and it is willing to offer £778,000 (USD$1million) to the owner.
Michael Harrop, who is in his late thirties, founded Human Microbes, a stool donor network, in 2020.
Initially, he was offering upward of £390 ($500) for each stool donated, but he is now looking to increase that to £778,000 ($1million).
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The firm will accept donors from around the world, although its focus at present is centred on the US and Canada.
More than 1.2 million applicants have been screened to date, but the company is yet to find the perfect poop and Michael is willing to name a higher price as the search goes on.
“We’re currently paying $500 per stool and I have plans to increase that drastically,” Michael told What’s The Jam.
“I may increase the price to $1 million due to the fact I’ve screened over 1.2 million applicants and haven’t found anyone that meets the ideal criteria.”
Michael has stated that he thinks those who play sports to the highest level would be the ideal candidates. And in a blog post he has shared, he named footballers like Kylian Mbappé and Virgil van Dijk, and basketball players such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant.
After struggling with poor health himself, Michael went in search of a solution and became motivated to learn more about gut microbiome and Fecal Microbiota Transplants – the transferral of healthy bacteria to a patient’s gastrointestinal tract.
He also felt that a majority of people suffer with their health and so began searching for healthy stool donors. And what started as a community effort evolved into his company, Human Microbes.
Michael said, “I’ve had a disability for two decades. I saw doctors all over the world and read and tried nearly everything.
“When I learned about the gut microbiome it seemed like the obvious answer, but I didn’t know anyone healthy enough to be a stool donor.
“There were hundreds of other people in the patient community wanting a high-quality stool donor, so started a community effort to find one.
“It eventually evolved into Human Microbes.”
Most applicants find Michael’s company through a web search, but he has previously advertised on classified ads company Craigslist too.
He has also carried out his own searches, and reached out to top college and professional athletes directly.
After increasing the stool payout to $500, videos went viral on social media with Michael receiving hundreds of thousands of applications.
“I tried Craigslist ads, as well as looking up top college & professional athletes and contacting them directly,” said Michael.
“Then after I raised donor payouts to $500 per stool, social media videos started going viral and that resulted in hundreds of thousands of applicants.
“I don’t advertise to recipients or patients anywhere, and from what I’ve seen, the patient community is quite ignorant about the gut microbiome and FMT.
“The demand for stool donors appears to have decreased in 2024 with the main issue that the people most likely to qualify are the least likely to apply.”
Michael remains hopeful he will find the perfect candidate for his research – so much so he is prepared to make them $1M richer.
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