Rewilding urban home gardens increased beneficial environmental bacteria on residents’ skin, reduced bacteria associated with infections and preserved microbial diversity within three months, while greater oral microbiome diversity was linked to lower inflammatory markers

Rewilding urban home gardens for three months shifted residents' microbiomes toward more environmental bacteria and fewer infection-associated bacteria on skin, while preserving skin microbial diversity. In 36 Finnish detached-house yards (21 rewilded with diverse vegetation, deadwood, wood chips, microbially rich growing media and leaf compost; 15 controls), residents with higher oral microbiome diversity also had lower salivary IL-6. The work, published in Microbiome, supports the biodiversity hypothesis of immune health.