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With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the HZI quickly moved into the public spotlight. Scientific Director Prof Dirk Heinz talks about one year of pandemic, the fast establishment of corona research and new challenges

“What exactly happens with infections in individual cells? How, where and when does the metabolism within infected cells change? If we manage to gain a better understanding of this, we’ll be able to find starting points for tailored and effective therapies,” says Antoine-Emmanuel Saliba. He has been head of the Single-cell Analysis group at the Würzburg-based Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), a branch of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) headquartered in Braunschweig, Germany, for more than three years.

As part of the adaptive immune system, T cells are involved in the defence against pathogens. However, if they recognise healthy, self-structures instead of invading pathogens, autoimmune diseases can result. It is still insufficiently understood which factors are responsible for the dysregulation of the T cells. A new EU-funded programme for young researchers, coordinated by Prof. Jochen Hühn at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, aims to study tissue-resident T cells in more detail. Within the framework of the training network, 15 doctoral students will be trained at academic and non-academic institutions in ten European countries.

Viruses have coexisted with mankind for a long time. The oldest genetic evidence of a viral disease shows that people already suffered from liver inflammation caused by hepatitis B viruses about 7,000 years ago. The genetic material of these viruses was found in teeth from this period, which were discovered in Saxony-Anhalt. Since then, many different viral diseases have appeared –and others, like smallpox, have disappeared forever. Newly emerging viruses, which have previously only spread in the animal kingdom, have been able to cross the species barrier and adapt to humans as new hosts. Since the end of 2019, the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2) has shown that nowadays such a virus can take over the whole world in a very short time.

A group of scientists are calling for a pan-European coronavirus action plan. Given the high numbers of cases and the new variants, they say, greater efforts to contain the virus are required across the whole continent. Case numbers must be reduced as quickly as possible, as this has strong advantages for society and economy. According to the paper published in the British medical journal The Lancet, the joint action of all European countries will make each national and local effort more effective.