This 'poop machine' could assist in the fight against bowel cancer

One of Tasmania's most talked-about artworks, Wim Delvoye's Cloaca Professional, ends with a pile of shit. Literally.

The Belgian artist's "poo machine," part of the permanent collection at Tasmania's Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), replicates a human digestive system. You "feed" it actual food, which makes its way through the system and, uh, comes out the other end as... yep.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Now, the ABC reports, the work could be a key advancement in the fight against bowel cancer, after the museum allowed the machine's afternoon dump to be tested by pathologists for bowel cancer on Tuesday.

OK, so they weren’t really worried about a work of art getting cancer. But it did demonstrate to Australians how easy it is to participate in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program —a free, simple home screening test sent to eligible people aged 50 to 74.

"Only 40 percent nationwide are returning those samples to the labs to be tested," Dr Owens told Mashable. "So, we're trying to increase awareness and as a result of that, increase the return rate."

It's all part of a new prevention campaign dubbed #justpooit, steered by MONA and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia. Dr. Owens said the campaign was a means of reaching the target demographic through their younger relatives and friends.

According to the Australian government's Department of Health, Australia has one of the highest rates of bowel cancer in the world (one in 23 Aussies will develop bowel cancer in their lifetime, and, according to the Cancer Council, around 80 die from the disease every week). The NBCSP aims to reduce deaths through early detection — up to 90 percent of bowel cancers be successfully treated if detected early.

So, how does it work? The screening kit is used to detect bleeding in the lower bowel, by collecting samples from your feces. By posting the samples back to the designated pathology laboratory, you'll be notified as to whether you need further testing (the test doesn't diagnose bowel cancer).

"It's a yucky thing, you know, no one likes to talk about poo," says Dr Owens. "There's a variety of reasons why people don't do [the test], but I think it's just that people don't open the box, look at the instructions and get on with it."

Governments in countries at high risk of bowel cancer have been attempting to raise awareness of early detection methods for years. The Scottish government released a PSA for bowel cancer screening in 2013, with one of the catchiest songs about poo you'll ever hear.

Here's hoping it all works. It's serious shit.