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Eingefärbtes Rasterelektronenmikroskopbild einer Zelle
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Scientists at the Würzburg-based Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig demonstrate for the first time how ZAP, a protein of the human immune defence system, inhibits the replication mechanism of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and can reduce the viral load by 20-fold. The findings were published today in the journal Nature Communications. They may help develop antiviral agents in the fight against the pandemic.
10.12.2021
Myxobakterien
News
Since 2017, interested citizen scientists can collect soil samples as part of the "Sample’ das Saarland" campaign and send them to the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS). The HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University. Scientists at HIPS search for new types of myxobacteria in the samples, and grow and examine them in the laboratory. These globally distributed, predatory soil bacteria are capable of producing an enormous variety of chemical substances, so-called microbial natural products, which often represent excellent starting points for the development of drugs. At HIPS, the main focus is on molecules that are able to kill other bacteria. The idea behind this is that if myxobacteria can use these substances in the soil to hunt down other bacteria, scientists may be able to develop new drugs from the same substances to fight bacterial infections in humans. The focus is particularly on resistant pathogens for which the antibiotics available up to now can no longer be used with the usual success.
09.12.2021
Grafik Männchen
News
Between July 2020 and August 2021, the Epidemiology Department of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig examined the blood of approximately 26,000 individuals for antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus as part of the nationwide “MuSPAD” study. For samples collected between July and October 2020, it became evident that one to three per cent of the people had experienced a SARS-CoV-2 infection after the first wave. By the end of the third wave, the seroprevalence had increased but remained at less than 15 per cent at most study sites. Therefore, while there were two to five actual infections for every reported infection during the first wave, this ratio - and thus the number of undetected cases - decreased in the second and third waves. These results were recently published in the international issue of Deutsches Ärzteblatt. In addition, a preprint publication of another study investigating the immune response after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 based on samples from the MuSPAD study is under review.
08.12.2021
Portrait Dr. Sahamoddin Khailaie
News
On the occasion of its 15th anniversary, the MTZ®foundation presented the SonderMTZ®-Award 2021 in Erkrath-Trills. The award winner is Dr Sahamoddin Khailaie from the department "Systems Immunology" headed by Prof Michael Meyer-Hermann at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig. The prize was awarded in recognition of his outstanding achievements in the field of Medical Systems Biology and Systems Medicine. The award ceremony took place during the 13th PhD Symposium of the HZI on 2 December 2021.
03.12.2021
Gruppenbild
News
Cholesterol-lowering drugs do not promote infection with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. This is the conclusion of a team of researchers from TWINCORE - Center for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research and the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover Foundation, led by Prof Gisa Gerold, together with colleagues from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Umea University in Sweden. The scientists have studied several lipid-lowering agents from the group of statins in a cell culture model. They have now published their results in the journal iScience. The TWINCORE-Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research is a joint institution of the Hannover MEdical School (MHH) and the HZI.
03.12.2021
Salmonellen
News
Salmonella enterica, a foodborne pathogen, is one of four key global causes of diarrheal diseases, which affect over 550 million people each year. This rod-shaped, Gram-negative bacterium has tubular, whip-like appendages known as flagella that protrude from its surface. Researchers from the Centre for Structural Systems Biology (CSSB) in collaboration with researchers at Research Center Borstel FZB, as well as Max Plank Institute for Infection Biology, the University of Marburg and the Technische Universität Braunschweig studied biochemical and biophysical properties of these bacterial structures. Their study was recently published in PLoS Pathogens. The CSSB is a common initiative by ten northern German research institutions, including the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig.
03.12.2021

HZI in the media

... group within the Microstar Program at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and a ...

31.03.2026
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Informations Dienst Wissenschaft

... an der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover und am Helmholtz Institut für Infektionen in Braunschweig die Wirkung ...

28.03.2026
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Hamburger Abendblatt

led by wildlife veterinarian Fabian Leendertz, who heads the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, took hundreds of samples from meat and

27.03.2026
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Science.org

Gesellschaft. Apropos Standort Braunschweig: Auch das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung HZI, in dessen Räumlichkeiten auf dem ...

27.03.2026
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transkript

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

 

After infection with SARS-CoV-2, up to 10 percent of people in Germany go on to develop Long COVID.

26.03.2026
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Mirage.News

... von verschiedenen Hörnchen, wie jüngste Erkenntnisse des Helmholtz Instituts für One Health in Greifswald kürzlich ...

26.03.2026
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Tagesschau

zur Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose und des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung erstellt. Zahlreiche weitere Fachgesellschaften und

24.03.2026
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... fünf Teams durch, darunter PROTON vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung. Dieses entwickelt einen neuartigen Wirkstoff gegen ...

22.03.2026
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Ad Hoc News

Vor allem durch die Coronapandemie sind Forschende des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in den vergangenen Jahren bundesweit bekannt geworden. Auf welche Themen die Einrichtung für die Zukunft setzt.

20.03.2026
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... beschäftigt sich daneben unter dem Dach des Helmholtz Institutes für Pharmazeu­tische Forschung Saarland (HIPS) ...

18.03.2026
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Biermann Medizin

... Ausbau von Produktions- und Vermarktungskapazitäten.

 

Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung HZI begrüßt den Erhalt der GMP- ...

18.03.2026
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Bionity.COM

... der Universität zu Lübeck, des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig, der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover ...

17.03.2026
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Biermann Medizin

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