Rational donor selection for fecal microbiota transplantation

We thank Dr Gianluca Ianiro et al for the suggestion in their reaction to our article to evaluate the donor microbiome for fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) by carefully assessing donor history and analyzing the microbiome to predict a favorable microbial signature. We agree that studying successful donor–patient pairs is crucial in understanding complex microbiome-related disease pathology and subsequent cure. However, there are several arguments against the existence of a favorable microbial signature for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infections (rCDI).