Scientists at Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital have been studying how to treat obesity and in their research, they were able to form a potent weight loss pill. However, they revealed that the pills contain dried up human feces of lean and fit donors.

Now, the team is preparing to run a test as part of their latest clinical trial. This project is being led by clinical researcher and endocrinologist Dr. Elaine Yu. The study is carried out in hopes of proving that the ever-changing microbes in a person's gut can make changes in the weight.

The research team discovered about the positive effects of fecal matter on treating obesity after they grafted the processed feces into the microbe-free guts of mice. Although the rodents were given the same diet, the mouse given the lean fecal matter did not gain weight and maintained its weight while the mouse which received the fecal matter from an obese person became overweight.

Regarding the study, WebMD asked Dr. Yu if there are other studies that suggest modifying a person's gut bacteria could help with losing extra pounds and she replied:

"There are not a lot of studies in humans. But there have been a couple. There was a study published a couple of years ago that looked at fecal microbiota transplants (FMT)."

She further explained, "They took 18 patients and randomly assigned them to receiving active FMT or a placebo (their own bacteria that was given back to them). They looked at changes in insulin sensitivity. They found that those patients who received FMT from lean donors had improvements in insulin sensitivity."

Then again, the doctor clarified that they are doing their research because there hasn't been any controlled trials in people looking at weight as an outcome.

But how do the pills look like? "The pills are odorless, tasteless and double-encapsulated to ensure they will not release until they reach the right location in the large intestine." Dr. Yu told the New York Daily News.

She also guaranteed that those who will participate in the trial will not be able to tell whether they are really ingesting poop pills since the capsules have been carefully made, according to the standards of the Food and Drug Administration.

For the trial, the participants have to take the pills for six weeks. Their health and weight would be recorded quarterly. They should also maintain healthy eating habits throughout the trial period.

To sum it up, Dr. Yu is hoping that through the trial, they will be able to see if giving feces-lined pill to overweight individuals could actually help in treating obesity.