"The Good Sh*t" Documentary Series

The Good Sh*t is a  Greenstone TV documentary series. Under the Copyright Act a broadcast may be shown by a student or staff member at an educational establishment for the purpose of instruction.

 
Please  refer to the Ministry of Education's guide to copying and showing radio and television broadcasts and ensure that your use of the documentary series will comply with the copyright act before showing the documentaries for instructional purposes in your classroom. 

The Good Sh*t is a three-part documentary series that takes a rare look behind the scenes of The Gut Bugs Trial, a human clinical trial conducted at the Liggins Institute. 

The Gut Bugs Trial is looking at whether a fecal transfer – already used to treat a severe form of diarrhoea - could also treat obesity. The trial has attracted the support of 87 teenagers living with obesity. Half of the teenage volunteers took capsules containing saline solution, while the other half took  capsules containing refined fecal matter from lean 'fecal matter donors'. The Liggins Institute trial is believed to be the first in the world to study gut microbiome transfer in young adults with obesity. Results are due late-2019.

Taking almost two years to make, The Good Sh*t documentary series provides a rare behind-the-scenes window into a clinical trial as it follows the researchers and four young women who participated in the trial’s pilot study.
The programmes show excitements, setbacks, intricate logistics and big reveals for the scientists.  At one point, joint-study lead Associate Professor Justin O’Sullivan likens it to a roller coaster as he and fellow lead Professor Wayne Cutfield nervously wait for PhD student Thilini Vidanelage to reveal some preliminary results.

The documentary enables four courageous young women who are volunteers in the study to tell their own stories – their struggles with weight issues, their experiences in the study, their hopes for their health and wellbeing and that of everyone else who one day may benefit from this science. We also meet one of the so-called ‘super donors’ – the healthy young adults who donated their poo. Incredibly, the four female donors in the pilot study went on to provide all the donations for the 51 females recruited to the main trial. Four male donors provided donations for all 36 male participants. Their generous commitment, flexibility and positivity made the trial possible.