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Electron micrograph of Klebsiella oxytoca
News
A balanced gut microbiome not only contributes to digestion, but is also an important protective factor against infections. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) led by Prof. Till Strowig, scientist in the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), want to harness the power of the microbiome to prevent serious infections. They have discovered that bacteria of the species Klebsiella oxytoca can displace pathogenic bacteria from the gut and want to develop a living biotherapeutic based on this finding. The DZIF is now providing 2.2 million euros in funding for product development until the first tests on humans.
07.08.2025
World map
News
Since the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, several variants of the virus have developed into Variants of Concern (VOCs), as classified by the World Health Organization (WHO). VOCs are virus variants that are predicted or known to cause large waves of infections due to their altered phenotypic characteristics and with risk of altering disease severity, reducing vaccine effectiveness or otherwise leading to increased burden of health care systems. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) have developed an analysis method to detect VOC early in their development. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications.
22.07.2025
Richmond Sarpong with certificate in hand, next to him is Klemens Rottner
News
The Friends of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Technische Universität Braunschweig are awarding Prof. Richmond Sarpong from the University of California, Berkeley, with the Inhoffen Medal 2025. Sarpong is an eminent organic chemist who has distinguished himself through particular successes in synthetic chemistry and method development. The award ceremony took place on July 10, 2025 at the HZI in Braunschweig.
11.07.2025
group picture
News
The German Research Foundation (DFG) is funding the DEEP-DV research group for another four years with a total of €5.3 million. This marks the second phase of the successful work of the interdisciplinary group, which includes scientists from Braunschweig, Hamburg, Hannover, Berlin, Regensburg, Ulm, Freiburg, and Munich. DNA viruses such as herpes viruses and polyomaviruses can remain in the body permanently after an initial infection and cause serious health consequences years later.
10.07.2025
Impfstoff
News
A recent study led by the Centre for Individualised Infection Medicine (CiiM) and the Radboud University Medical Center published in Genome Biology shows that BCG vaccination does more than fend off tuberculosis - it leaves enduring chemical marks on immune cells that boost responses to various pathogens. Researchers also uncover hormone‑immune crosstalk and sex‑specific effects that could guide next‑generation, individualised vaccine design.
10.07.2025
Dr. Andreas Pavlou, first author of the study, in the lab
News
Infections in the brain can have serious consequences and are often fatal. The immune defense system works differently here than in the rest of the body. A team of researchers at TWINCORE – Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research in Hanover – has now discovered, in collaboration with partners, which signaling pathways play a central role in communication between immune cells in the brain in their defense against viruses. The results have now been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation. The TWINCORE is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School (MHH).
09.07.2025

HZI in the media

Josef Penninger, wissenschaftlicher Geschäftsführer des Helmholtz Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig und Professor für

01.03.2026
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EUROPE SAYS

... Körperzellen. Damit tragen wir, wie das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) es treffend beschreibt, unseren „ganz ...

27.02.2026
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MSN Deutschland

Eine Impfung bringt das Immunsystem in Stellung, bevor der echte Erreger kommt. Erfahren Sie, wie ...

26.02.2026
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Apotheken Umschau

Livia V. Patrono, one of the senior authors at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) in Germany, said in a statement .

 

The research

25.02.2026
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IFL Science

says Livia Patrono, a veterinarian and disease ecologist at Helmholtz Institute for One Health in Greifswald, Germany. In 2012, an infected

24.02.2026
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Science News

... Dr. rer. nat. Jakob Wirbel vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (Braunschweig). Das Experiment aus Stanford sei ...

20.02.2026
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... unseres Immunsystems zu entziehen. Strukturbiologen des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) konnten nun mittels ...

18.02.2026
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Bionity.COM

of our immune system. Structural biologists at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) have now used cryo-electron microscopy to

16.02.2026
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Phys.org

Was es mit Mpox – früher Affenpocken genannt – auf sich hat, welche Symptome erkrankte Personen haben und wie man sich anstecken kann.

13.02.2026
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Apotheken Umschau

Julia Port, research group leader at Germany's Helmholtz Center for Infection Research.

 

"Ongoing outbreaks—particularly those driven by

12.02.2026
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Medical Xpress

... Livia Patrono, laut einer Mitteilung des beteiligten Helmholtz-Instituts für One Health (HIOH): Denn dadurch ...

12.02.2026
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n-tv

... für den Neubau der Klinik für Strahlentherapie Würzburg sowie für das Helmholtz-Institut für RNA-basierte ...

12.02.2026
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Main-Post - Karlstadt

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