Newsroom

News

The CRISPR-Cas gene-editing system has long been the focus of research as a promising tool in genome editing. However, the emphasis has been on its underlying mechanisms and nucleases. In contrast, little research has examined how CRISPR-Cas systems have evolved and been optimized. In collaboration with the universities of Leipzig, Freiburg, and Michigan (USA), a research team at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg found an optimization mechanism in CRISPR-Cas13, providing insights into the evolution of these systems. The results were recently published in EMBO Journal.

14.04.2026

HIRI

Section of a mouse dorsal root ganglion with two subtypes of pain receptors marked in cyan and magenta.

News

Helmholtz researchers have created the first detailed protein map of specific sensory neurons that trigger pain. The team from the Max Delbrück Center and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) determined the complete set of proteins in nerve cells and generated a high-resolution map of the cells. Their study, published in “Nature Communications,” will help researchers better understand the molecular mechanisms of chronic inflammatory pain and identify new drug targets.

14.04.2026

HZI Campus

Dot-like colonies of the bacterium Klebsiella pneumoniae (blue) on a round plate

News

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the greatest challenges to global health. Using an innovative high-throughput method, researchers from the Department “Epidemiology and Ecology of Antimicrobial Resistance” led by Prof. Katharina Schaufler at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) have now uncovered a previously hidden link between antibiotic resistance and virulence in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Virulence describes the extent to which a pathogen can cause disease. The findings were published in the international journal Clinical Microbiology and Infection. HIOH is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research.

13.04.2026

HIOH

Group photo of about 100 people on the steps in front of a building entrance

News

Even after the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases remain among the greatest challenges to global health. At the same time, advances in biomedical research, data-driven methods, and clinical innovation are opening up new opportunities to tailor prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to individual patients. How these approaches can be translated into medical care was the focus of the 2nd International Conference on Individualized Infection Medicine, which took place from March 19 to 21, 2026, at Herrenhausen Palace in Hannover.

09.04.2026

CiiM

A man and a woman, who holds a certificate

News

Dr. Lina Herhaus has been awarded the Otto Meyerhof Award of the German Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (GBM e.V.) at the 77th Mosbacher Kolloquium of the GBM. The prize, endowed with €5,000 and funded by Boehringer Ingelheim, was presented for the seventh time and recognizes outstanding early-career scientists conducting research in Germany in fields relevant to the GBM within biochemistry and molecular biology. The award commemorates the world-renowned physiologist and biochemist Otto Meyerhof, who worked in Kiel, Berlin, and Heidelberg before being forced to flee Germany in 1938 as a Jewish scientist.

31.03.2026

HZI Campus

Image of yellow-gold rod-shaped bacteria

News

Just in time for today’s World Tuberculosis Day, the new S3 guideline on tuberculosis prevention among newly arrived migrants has gone online at the Association of Scientific Medical Societies (AWMF). Commissioned by the German Respiratory Society (DGP), it was developed under the leadership of the German Central Committee for Tuberculosis Control (DZK) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). Over the past three years, a team of experts from the fields of public health and individual medicine worked together with affected individuals to improve tuberculosis screening—and thus prevention—in Germany. The guideline was funded by the Innovation Fund of the Joint Federal Committee (G-BA).

24.03.2026

HZI Campus

HZI in the media

... ÖAW in Wien und nun Gruppenleiter am Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig, forscht an ...

08.04.2026

DerStandard.de

... group within the Microstar Program at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and a ...

31.03.2026

Informations Dienst Wissenschaft

... an der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover und am Helmholtz Institut für Infektionen in Braunschweig die Wirkung ...

28.03.2026

Hamburger Abendblatt

led by wildlife veterinarian Fabian Leendertz, who heads the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, took hundreds of samples from meat and

27.03.2026

Science.org

Gesellschaft. Apropos Standort Braunschweig: Auch das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung HZI, in dessen Räumlichkeiten auf dem ...

27.03.2026

transkript

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

After infection with SARS-CoV-2, up to 10 percent of people in Germany go on to develop Long COVID.

26.03.2026

Mirage.News

... von verschiedenen Hörnchen, wie jüngste Erkenntnisse des Helmholtz Instituts für One Health in Greifswald kürzlich ...

26.03.2026

Tagesschau

zur Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose und des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung erstellt. Zahlreiche weitere Fachgesellschaften und

24.03.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... fünf Teams durch, darunter PROTON vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung. Dieses entwickelt einen neuartigen Wirkstoff gegen ...

22.03.2026

Ad Hoc News

Vor allem durch die Coronapandemie sind Forschende des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in den vergangenen Jahren bundesweit bekannt geworden. Auf welche Themen die Einrichtung für die Zukunft setzt.

20.03.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... beschäftigt sich daneben unter dem Dach des Helmholtz Institutes für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS) ...

18.03.2026

Biermann Medizin

... Ausbau von Produktions- und Vermarktungskapazitäten.

Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung HZI begrüßt den Erhalt der GMP- ...

18.03.2026

Bionity.COM

Register now for the HZI-Newsletter

and stay up to date!

Email address *

We use rapidmail to send our newsletter. I agree that my data entered here will be transmitted to rapidmail. I have taken note of the HZI's privacy policy and have been informed of my rights.