Australia’s magic mushroom population contains greater genetic diversity than the world’s commercially available shrooms, Australian researchers say.

This diversity could be harnessed to breed “designer shrooms” as a potential mental health treatment.

The University of Queensland sequenced the genes of 38 types of magic mushroom from Australia and 86 commercially available types. They say while the Aussie shrooms are genetically diverse, the commercially available ones sorely lack in diversity after years of selective breeding.

The researchers say some of the Aussie diversity relates to the genes controlling the production of psilocybin, a psychedelic substance with potential as a mental health treatment.