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Futuristic stock photo: Doctor pressing AI button

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The Helmholtz Association is kicking off 2026 with new research initiatives on strategic future topics to bring technological breakthroughs into practical application more quickly. The Helmholtz initiatives “Biomedical Engineering Initiative,” “Water Safety and Security Initiative,” and “Quantum Use Challenge” are generating innovative solutions – from needle-free blood glucose measurement via wearables to quantum sensors for more powerful batteries and innovative concepts for water management in large cities. The initiatives are being developed in close cooperation with partners from politics, business, and society and address key technologies and strategic research areas of the German government’s High-Tech Agenda. Four projects of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and its sites in Greifswald, Saarbrücken and Würzburg are part of the new research campaigns.

22.01.2026

HZI Campus

HIPS

HIRI

HIOH

Person wearing purple gloves performing chemical synthesis

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For decades, tuberculosis (TB) has been one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. Resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are particularly problematic, as many established drugs are becoming increasingly ineffective against them. However, a research team from the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and Saarland University has now discovered a new family of natural substances that exhibit excellent activity against the TB pathogen. They have also investigated these substances so comprehensively that targeted further development is possible for the first time. The researchers have now published their findings in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

21.01.2026

HIPS

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Two collaborative projects involving the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are being funded with 100,000 euros each from the joint program "zukunft.niedersachsen" of the state of Lower Saxony and the Volkswagen Foundation. Both projects result from the collaboration between HZI and the MRC–University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research (CVR), established in 2024 as part of a cooperation between the Helmholtz Association and the British Medical Research Council (MRC). The funded MARITH project will grow organoids from throat tonsil tissue to study the development of immunological memory in humans, while the ViReST project analyzes the sites of viral replication in respiratory infections and their impact on virus transmission.

20.01.2026

HZI Campus

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The global skin care company Beiersdorf and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) have entered into a long-term, exclusive partnership. In this collaboration they aim to investigate the role of the skin microbiome in maintaining healthy skin. The goal is to identify natural products produced by microorganisms on the skin that have a positive effect on skin balance. The project is based on extensive data sets on microorganisms that inhabit human skin.

13.01.2026

HIPS

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Prof. Rolf Müller, Scientific Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and Head of the Research Unit “Novel Antibiotics” at the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of the European Partnership on One Health Antimicrobial Resistance (EUP OHAMR). HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University.

12.01.2026

HIPS

Cryo-electron microscope image of the nuclease Cas12a3 with illustrated scissors

News

The CRISPR “gene scissors” have become an important basis for genome-editing technologies in many fields, ranging from biology and medicine to agriculture and industry. A team from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg has now demonstrated that these CRISPR-Cas systems are even more versatile than previously thought. In cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Utah State University (USU) in Logan (USA), the scientists have discovered a novel CRISPR defense mechanism: Unlike known nucleases, Cas12a3 specifically destroys transfer ribonucleic acids (tRNA) that are vital for protein production to shut down infected cells. The team published its findings today in the journal Nature.

07.01.2026

HZI Campus

HIRI

HZI in the media

Die Zellen kontrollieren die Reaktion des Immunsystems und verhindern Schäden durch Selbstangriffe. Forschende arbeiten daran, sie zur Therapie einzusetzen.

05.03.2026

NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

Nachwuchsgruppe „Nanoinfektionsbiologie“ am HZI. Diese Lücke soll das Projekt ONEMUC (Respiratorischer Mukus als One Health-Schnittstelle) ...

03.03.2026

DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

Hochschule Hannover (MHH) und des Helmholz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) erforschen im Rahmen des Projektes StopPSC ( ...

03.03.2026

Biermann Medizin

Mdisk, stock.adobe.com

Braunschweig – Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ( HZI ) in Braunschweig erhält für sein ...

03.03.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

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

01.03.2026

EUROPE SAYS

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

27.02.2026

MSN Deutschland

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

26.02.2026

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

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

Science News

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

20.02.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

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

18.02.2026

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

Phys.org

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