Newsroom

Bakteriophagen
News
The antimicrobial potential of CRISPR-Cas systems is promising, yet how to best design or implement CRISPR nucleases remains poorly understood. An international team led by the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg has now addressed this knowledge gap. The researchers conducted the first systematic interrogation of CRISPR antimicrobials using multidrug-resistant and hypervirulent bacteria as case studies, revealing wide variations in efficacy that could be predicted via high-throughput screening and machine learning. Their findings were published today in the journal Nucleic Acids Research.
25.04.2024
Vero6 cells (renal epithelial cells) infected with SARS-CoV-2
News
The so-called B cells are part of the immune system's memory. Their memories of previous infections or vaccinations provide the template for antibodies that have a protective effect the next time they come into contact with a pathogen. Researchers at TWINCORE, Centre for Clinical and Experimental Infection Research, have now been able to show that the combination of infection and subsequent vaccination in the case of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus even protects against future variants of the virus by the memory cells virtually predicting the future. The team describes how this works in the European Journal of Immunology. The TWINCORE is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School (MHH).
25.04.2024
Group photo with Luka Cicin-Sain, Adhara Madhuri, Henrik Klimke
News
Leukemia is the most common cancer in children. Cancer treatment severely weakens the children's immune system and they can easily develop opportunistic infections. One of the most common causes of such complications is the cytomegalovirus (CMV) from the herpes virus family. The department “Viral Immunology” headed by Prof. Luka Cicin-Sain at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig is now investigating immunotherapy options against CMV. The project is enabled by a donation from the Günter Hansmeier Krebsstiftung in Braunschweig, which is funding the position of a doctoral researcher for three years.
15.04.2024
Three dimensional structure of the transport protein ECF-T.
News
Due to the progressive spread of antimicrobial resistance, clinically important antibiotics are increasingly losing their effectiveness. New active substances are urgently needed to counteract this development. In order to circumvent existing resistance, new drugs must address previously unused target structures within the pathogens. HIPS scientist Prof. Anna Hirsch has been able to identify one such target and successfully acquired a “Proof of Concept” grant of the European Research Council (ERC) to support the development of novel active substances.
02.04.2024
Zecke auf Hautoberfläche
News
The Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever virus (CCHFV), first described in 1944, is also spreading rapidly in Europe due to global warming and is included in the WHO list of infectious agents with epidemic or pandemic potential as a top priority. There are currently no therapeutic or preventative measures available against the disease, which is mainly transmitted by ticks and is fatal in 40 per cent of cases.
29.03.2024
Salmonella on a cell
News
The decay of ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a crucial mechanism for controlling gene expression in response to environmental stresses. Researchers from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) have developed a statistical approach that allows a more accurate prediction of RNA half-lives in bacteria.
28.03.2024

HZI in the media

... maßgeblich vorantreiben. In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Braunschweiger Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und der Utah State ...

16.01.2026
|
IT Boltwise

... Deutschen Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen, am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung und am Max-Delbrück-Centrum für ...

16.01.2026
|
Handelsblatt

Das interdisziplinäre Team aus TWINCORE , Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover ( ...

15.01.2026
|
Arzt & Wirtschaft

Manche fordern Placebo-kontrollierte Vergleiche von Geimpften und Ungeimpften, um die Sicherheit der Masern-Impfung zu testen. ...

15.01.2026
|
BR Bayerischer Rundfunk

... können wir Pandemien früh erkennen? Forschende des Helmholtz‑Instituts für One Health zeigen, warum Mensch, ...

13.01.2026
|
Deutsche Welle

... gewinnbringend eingesetzt werden. Das HIPS ist ein Standort des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Zusammenarbeit ...

13.01.2026
|
juraforum.de

... nach SARS-CoV-2, sagt Fabian Leendertz. Er ist Direktor des Helmholtz-Instituts für One Health (HIOH) in ...

13.01.2026
|
Deutsche Welle

from the University Hospital Würzburg (UKW), the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI), and University of Münster. The

12.01.2026
|
MSN.com

... des Universitätsklinikums Würzburg (UKW), des Helmholtz-Instituts für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI) und der Universität ...

12.01.2026
|
Biermann Medizin

... potential pandemics early on? Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health are showing why ...

12.01.2026
|
Deutsche Welle

Entdeckung

 

Forschende am Helmholtz-Institut für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI), einem Standort des Braunschweiger Helmholtz- ...

09.01.2026
|
Bionity.COM

tools.” – Dr. Anya Sharma, Virologist at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research.

 

Looking Ahead: The Long-Term Implications of

08.01.2026
|
ARCHYDE

Register now for the HZI-Newsletter