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On Friday, February 2, 2024, the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the German Council of Science and Humanities (WR) announced which proposals for new Clusters of Excellence will be invited to submit full proposals. Saarland University (UdS) has successfully cleared this first hurdle with its proposal "nextAID³ - Next Generation of Al-driven Drug Discovery and Development".
02.02.2024
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The interplay between ribonucleic acid (RNA) and proteins is not only important for maintaining cellular homeostasis but is also at the center of the tug-of-war between virus and host. Until now, there has been no method to globally map direct interactions of individual RNA regions in an unbiased fashion without the need for genetic modification of the target RNA or cell. Researchers from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in the US have now developed a breakthrough tool that overcomes this limitation. Their findings were recently published in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
01.02.2024
Two chimpanzees sitting next to each other
News
An important question in modern life science and medical research is how the microorganisms living in and on a body influence the life processes and thus health and disease of the host organism. Scientists at Kiel University and the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH), a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), assume that there are connections between the entirety of the body's microbial colonization, the so-called microbiome, and the development of diseases. Chronic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in particular is apparently closely linked to the composition and disturbance of the microbiome. At the same time, it is difficult to define a healthy normal state of the human microbial colonization, as it is influenced by many factors and the individual composition varies from person to person.
30.01.2024
(left to right) Christian Scherf, Judith Pirscher, Josef Penninger, Theresia Stradal, Thomas Pietschmann
News
On 23 January 2024, State Secretary Judith Pirscher from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) visited the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig. She gained an insight into the current research program and the recently launched large-scale project "Microbial Stargazing - Research into Resilience Mechanisms of Microbes and Humans" (MICROSTAR for short), which is headed by the new Scientific Director of the HZI, Prof Josef Penninger.
24.01.2024
Forscherin pipettiert
News
BioVersys AG, a multi-asset, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on research and development of novel antibacterial products for serious life-threatening infections caused by multi-drug resistant (“MDR”) bacteria, announced today that it has established a long-term research collaboration with the prestigious European institute, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and its site Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS).
23.01.2024
Group photo of the HIRI scientists involved in the study
News
To combat viruses, bacteria and other pathogens, synthetic biology offers new technological approaches whose performance is being validated in experiments. Researchers from the Würzburg Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research and the Helmholtz AI Cooperative applied data integration and artificial intelligence (AI) to develop a machine learning approach that can predict the efficacy of CRISPR technologies more accurately than before. The findings were published today in the journal Genome Biology.
11.01.2024

HZI in the media

Lange, Leiterin der Abteilung Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig erwartet insgesamt einen typischen

12.11.2026
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Wiesbadener Kurier

... Technischen Universität Braunschweig, Forschungsgruppenleiter am Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung.

 

Nach seiner Promotion über ...

09.11.2026
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Radio38

WDR am 05.11.2026: Vitamine sind lebenswichtig. Viele greifen deshalb zu Kapseln, Pulvern und Brausetabletten, um mit einer Extraportion nachzuhelfen.

 

Das Geschäft boomt: Hersteller versprechen mehr Energie, ein stärkeres Immunsystem, gesünderes Altern und Schutz vor Krankheiten

06.11.2026
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ARD Mediathek

Jörg Vogel, Direktor des Helmholtz-Instituts für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung und Sprecher der Leopoldina-Arbeitsgruppe RNA-basierte ...

04.11.2026
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Tagesschau

... Team der MHH beteiligen sich das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, das Fraunhofer-Institut für Toxikologie und ...

04.11.2026
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... leitete er eine Forschungsgruppe am Helmholtz-Institut für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI) in Würzburg.

 

Vorbeugen - ...

02.11.2026
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Management & Krankenhaus

"Trump ist eine Bedrohung für die Demokratie und Freiheit. Eine Rückkehr in die USA ist beruflich keine Option mehr", so Biologin Dr. Elsa Anderson. Forschenden droht in den USA in der zweiten Amtszeit von Donald Trump der Verlust ihrer wissenschaftlichen Freiheit, sie suchen des

02.11.2026
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arte

... nach dem Saarland benannt.

 

Seit gut drei Jahren läuft das vom Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung ...

02.11.2026
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Tagesschau

... ist Leiterin der Abteilung Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und Mitglied der Ständigen Impfkommission ...

30.10.2026
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Focus Online

von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen und des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung zwei bislang unbekannte Naturstoffe entdeckt. Die

30.10.2026
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Bionity.COM

Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and its Saarland University partner site, the Helmholtz Institute for

27.10.2026
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Scienmag Science Magazine

experimental and modeling study led by scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig. The researchers found that

26.10.2026
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Bioengineer.org

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