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Who has overcome an infection with the virus without noticing, and how many people have already produced protective antibodies against the new coronavirus? Various antibody studies are now under way that will provide information on immunity or seroprevalence in the population. However, in order to compare these studies in a timely and reliable manner and provide a comprehensive evaluation, the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) is building a platform that gathers the methodology and results of the tests and makes the data available to interested researchers. The project “LEOSS.sero-survey” will be led by scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and implemented in collaboration with Helmholtz Federated IT Services (HIFIS).

The intestinal microbiota plays a central role for human physiology. Traditional studies have focused on the changes in microbiota composition under diverse conditions. Recently, efforts shifted towards understanding the molecular biology of intestinal bacteria. The species Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron (B. theta) has emerged as a model organism for human intestinal microbiota research. Scientists at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) have captured a detailed map of RNAs and their activities in these anaerobic bacteria. The HIRI is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg. The results can be browsed in an online database and were published in the journal Nature Communications.

With the aim of obtaining a better overview of the occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 infections, a nationwide antibody study conducted by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) was launched in the district of Reutlingen at the beginning of July. Alongside four other antibody tests, a new detection method being jointly developed by the NMI Natural and Medical Sciences Institute at the University of Tübingen in Reutlingen and the HZI is also being used to determine the immune status within the population. The test centre, at which representative blood samples are taken, has been set up at the heart of Reutlingen.

Jun Prof Jesko Köhnke heads the junior research group “Structural Biology of Biosynthetic Enzymes” at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). Together with his team of three, he researches the biosynthesis of natural products. His current research on an antibiotically active natural product called bottromycin has led to the discovery of a new enzyme group. He tells us in our interview what makes it so special and what this has to do with oranges and lemons. The results of the research have been published in the scientific journal Nature Chemical Biology.

The Leibniz Institute for New Materials (INM), Saarland University (UdS) and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) are launching the Leibniz Science Campus “Living Therapeutic Materials” on 1 July 2020. In a competitive process, the Leibniz Association approved a grant of 900,000 € for joint research into new materials for the personalised administration of biotherapeutics, based at the Saarland campus. In addition to the funding from the Leibniz Association, the INM, the HIPS and the UdS are also contributing around three million euros to the project from their own funds. Furthermore, the State Chancellery is also contributing an additional 400,000 €.

Prof Anna K. H. Hirsch recently received a prestigious European grant with a total funding volume of 3.2 million euros to initiate an Innovative Training Network (ITN) in the framework of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. Hirsch leads the department Drug Design and Optimization at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) in Saarbrücken, a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) on the campus of the Saarland University.