Researchers have found that Escherichia coli (E. coli) -- the most prevalent bacterium in the human and animal gut -- plays a critical role in promoting health by boosting iron absorption challenging the previous held notion that it causes food poisoning or steals nutrients from its host. The study published in the journal Cell shed new light on the mechanism by which E. coli benefits its host and could ultimately lead to more effective therapies for iron deficiency anaemia which impacts more than 1 billion people worldwide. Scientists have long known that E.coli produces a compound called enterobactin to scavenge
