Stabilization refers to suppressing post-capture biological and chemical change while retaining the native molecular and microbial structure present at the moment of sampling.
This includes limiting processes such as microbial growth, oxidation, enzymatic drift, and metabolite degradation after capture, without chemically fixing or altering the sample.
Preservation often implies long-term storage or chemical fixation, which can alter molecular structure or biological context.
In contrast, stabilization is designed to maintain the native state of the sample over a defined short-term window by restricting time-dependent biological activity, not by denaturing or killing biological components.
Fecal samples reflect downstream material after digestion, transport, oxygen exposure, and time-dependent biological change.
Localized intestinal sampling enables stabilization of site-specific biological information—such as microbial associations, metabolites, enzymes, and signaling molecules—before these signals are diluted, altered, or lost during transit.
No. Stabilization selectively suppresses time-driven evolution of the sample while retaining existing molecular configurations and abundance relationships.
The goal is not to halt all chemistry, but to prevent new biological processes from becoming dominant after capture.
Stabilization duration depends on formulation and experimental conditions.
Current development targets include short-term stabilization windows suitable for intestinal transit and refrigerated transport for research analysis. Performance studies are ongoing.
The capsule is designed to minimize post-capture changes rather than introduce new selective pressures.
By limiting oxygen exposure, pH shifts, and uncontrolled growth, stabilization aims to retain native abundance ratios present at the time of capture.
Oxygen exposure can rapidly introduce new metabolic pathways and oxidative artifacts.
InOut Biome’s capsule design and stabilization approach aim to limit oxygen introduction at the moment of capture, helping prevent post-capture activation of oxygen-sensitive biological processes that can distort native biological context.
Oxygen exposure can rapidly introduce new metabolic pathways and oxidative artifacts.
The capsule design and formulation aim to limit oxygen introduction at capture, helping prevent post-capture activation of oxygen-sensitive biological processes.
Most ingestible sampling approaches focus on mechanical capture alone.
InOut Biome integrates localized capture with immediate stabilization, addressing not only where the sample is taken, but what happens to it after capture—an essential factor for maintaining biological fidelity.
Note: Performance studies are ongoing, and all descriptions refer to research-use development objectives.