In a lab in Western Sydney, three piles of dirt are laid out on aluminium foil.
Within these piles of plant matter, researchers hope to discover unknown psychedelic compounds inside Australia’s floral emblem, wattle, to treat intractable mental health conditions.
It has been long known that there are psychedelic properties within acacia shrubs and trees. In fact, some academics argue that the biblical story of the burning bush from which God appears to Moses was a hallucination brought on by dimethyltryptamine (DMT) in the blazing acacia shrub.
There are more than 1000 species of acacia in Australia, the majority of which are native, including the golden wattle.
“Most of them haven’t been tested,” says Dr Mitchell Low, from NICM Health Research Institute at Western Sydney University. “We know the morphology of the species, but the chemical composition is still unknown.”
The next-generation psychedelic drugs
Low is leading a study testing 855 species of Australian wattle for its psychedelic properties, including DMT and other compounds that may be used for cutting-edge psychiatric therapies. The study is expected to take five years.
“DMT has the real mental health applications in terms of psychedelic-assisted therapies, but there are very likely other psychedelics in there, and we think we’ve found some.”
In some of the wattle samples Low has tested so far, the DMT is more potent than the Amazonian plants traditionally associated with the compound and used to make ayahuasca (roughly translated to “Vine of the soul”).
Each compound is likely to have distinct effects and affect individuals differently depending on their genetics. The more researchers understand about these compounds and how they work, the more possibility it opens up for tailoring therapies for those with anxiety, depression and addiction.
While psilocybin – the psychedelic compound found in certain mushrooms – might work for some people with a particular condition, the compounds found in wattle or other plants might be more effective for others.
“We’re looking as broadly as possible,” Low says. “That’s part of the reason we’re looking deeply into acacia to see if there are other [compounds] which could be the next-generation psychedelic drugs.”
More than 2.2 million Australians are living with a long-term mental illness. Antidepressants are helpful for some, but not all people.
“There’s an urgent need for new options.”
Last year, Low collaborated with researchers from the University of Melbourne and the CSIRO to develop a DMT-based formulation derived from the wattle. In a first of its kind study, published in Scientific Reports in November, the formulation was then tested on nine healthy participants to assess its safety and psychoactive effect in a controlled environment.
“Participants reported effects that exceeded prior published psilocybin and LSD results,” said lead author Dr Daniel Perkins, the head of the Psychedelics Research and Therapeutics Unit at the University of Melbourne.
“Importantly, we also found strong associations between the intensity of that acute experience and persisting psychological benefit, including improved wellbeing and positive behavioural changes.”
The next step is a randomised controlled trial involving participants with major depressive disorder and alcohol use disorder.
Much more quality of life
It’s still early days for psychedelic-assisted therapy, says Melbourne-based psychiatrist Dr Nigel Strauss.
In 2022, following the release of Michael Pollan’s popular Netflix series How to Change Your Mind, the potential of psychedelics to “relieve human suffering” became mainstream.
Then in 2023, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) authorised psychiatrists like Strauss to start prescribing MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression.
“I’m very particular about who I prescribe it to,” Strauss says.
He is “very optimistic” about the potential of these therapies when prescribed appropriately.
At their best, they can have profound effects: “There’s much more quality of life.”
The option of alternative treatments, including in the form of DMT is appealing, particularly given that it is faster acting than psilocybin which may make it more cost-effective.
Currently, psychedelic-assisted therapy, which includes psilocybin dosing sessions plus preparatory and integration therapy, is expensive (costing up to $25,000) and only subsidised by select private health insurance funds and the Department of Veterans Affairs (for veterans).
“If you’re helping them or curing them in one or two sessions … that’s still a lot less than a lifetime of therapy,” counters Low, noting that the average mental injury claim is now $288,542 and that mental health services cost about $13.2 billion a year.
And so the research continues.
“The work that Mitchell and his team are doing at NICM remains genuinely important,” says Perkins. “Australian flora contain a remarkable diversity of bioactive compounds that are largely unexplored … The fact that Australian Acacia species contain DMT is well established, but there’s likely much more to discover.”
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Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
