Basic Science Research with OpenBiome


In addition to our commitment to provide safe access to FMT, OpenBiome is here to partner with investigators to uncover the role of the gut microbiome in addressing unmet medical needs. 

To support basic science research, OpenBiome has developed the Fecal Microbiota Preparation for Research applications (FMP-R), a microbiota preparation designed for researchers interested in developing biological tools from the bacteria found in human stool, including humanized animal models and biomarker screening methods. Furthermore, our Microbiome Metacommunity Standard (MMS) material may prove essential for researchers aiming to standardize and control sequencing runs and experiments.

We are actively working to catalyze this exciting and rapidly emerging field of science. In the sections below, you can learn more about ordering FMP-R or MMS material and working with OpenBiome to support your research goals. To place an order or inquiry, please review our Research Collaboration Guide for basic science reseachers and fill out our short Research Request Form and submit it to science@openbiome.org.

Please expect significant lead times on any orders of basic science research material.


    • The OpenBiome FMP-R Pack provides microbial communities from healthy human donors along with accompanying molecular and clinical characterization data to support research into the human microbiome. Each FMP-R pack includes 25 aliquots, each containing a 1 ml preparation of concentrated fecal microbiota isolated from one or more qualified OpenBiome donors, tailored to the research application. These samples can be used for both in-vitro assays and in-vivo applications (such as humanization, colonization, and competition experiments) in pre-clinical animal models. For more information regarding the FMP-R pack, please review our Research Collaboration Guide.
    • OpenBiome recognizes the significant variability in results when high-throughput technology is used to obtain raw 16s sequencing data. In accordance with our commitment to catalyze microbiome research and improve the quality and consistency of data across our network of collaborators, OpenBiome has developed a standardization tool called the 'Microbiome Metacommunity Standard’ (MMS). The MMS is designed to serve as a cross-platform, cross-center benchmark for users of different sequencing platforms and variable pre-sequencing processing pipelines and to ameliorate the 'batch effect' observed across sequencing runs. MMS users may control not only for sequencing differences within their individual runs, but also among their sequencing runs and the results of any other researchers and centers using MMS.


    For more information regarding these FMT preparations, please review our Research Collaboration Guide or contact us at science@openbiome.org.

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