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Flinders Team Publishes Open Database Cataloging Health-Promoting Microbes and Natural Compounds

The prototype reframes microbe research toward factors that promote health, inviting co-creation by scientists and communities.

Overview

  • A paper in Microbial Biotechnology introduces the Database of Salutogenic Potential as an early, expandable, open-access resource.
  • The catalogue currently lists 124 candidate microbial taxa and 14 natural biochemical compounds linked to outcomes such as immune regulation and stress reduction.
  • The authors aim to inform public health policy, urban design and ecosystem restoration, with planned integration into One Health approaches.
  • The team emphasizes the resource is not a clinical guideline but a foundation consolidating evidence on salutogenic taxa, their reported benefits and environmental origins.
  • Related research by the lead author finds urban soils carry higher pathogen loads, including several-fold more Klebsiella pneumoniae, underscoring parallel risk assessment during biodiversity restoration.