WikiBiome

The open encyclopedia of microbiome metallomics.

WikiBiome explores how heavy metals shape the human microbiome, drive disease, and reveal new therapeutic targets. A project of the Paleo Foundation.

What is Microbiome Metallomics?

Microbiome metallomics is the study of how metals — both essential (iron, zinc, manganese) and toxic (lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic) — shape the composition and behavior of human-associated microbial communities. Heavy metals act as selective pressures on the microbiome, favoring metal-tolerant or metal-dependent organisms and suppressing sensitive beneficial species. This field integrates toxicology, microbial ecology, nutritional immunology, and clinical medicine to reveal how environmental metal exposures contribute to chronic disease through microbial mechanisms.

WikiBiome currently contains 289 articles covering 91 microorganisms, 20 metals, 74 biological mechanisms, and 0 disease signatures — all sourced from peer-reviewed research.

Disease Signatures

Each disease signature maps five layers of evidence: the metallomic profile (which metals are elevated or depleted), the taxonomic signature (which microbes are enriched or lost), the nutritional immunity response (how the host fights back), the ecological state (oxygen, pH, biofilm), and the virulence enzymes that connect metal availability to pathogenic function.

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