Harnessing Excretion for Science

Mathilde Poyet works on bacterial samples from around the world at the Global Microbiome Conservancy. Credit: J. Knight/Global Microbiome Conservancy via Nature

Nature shares how researchers harness pee and poo for science.

The implications of research into human waste span several scientific disciplines. Amid a global fertilizer shortage, some scientists (and farmers) are looking to urine as fertilizer, owing to its nitrogen content. A study in Nature Water3, published earlier this year by a group of researchers at Stanford University, California, created a prototype system that extracts nutrients from urine. The team estimates that its design could generate up to US$4.13 per kilogram of nitrogen recovered. And research published in 20204 shows that urine-based fertilizer might also help to conserve other resources, reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and water use.

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