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The human gut is colonized by countless microorganisms. Could some of them protect humans from infections? Principal Investigator Alexander Westermann aims to better understand the interaction between host cells, gut bacteria and pathogens. He now receives funding of 1.5 million euros for his research project “GUT-CHECK” from the European Research Council (ERC). Westermann is the fourth group leader at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg to be awarded an ERC grant.

Though it has been eclipsed lately by SARS-CoV-2, there is another global epidemic still threatening people: HIV/AIDS. According to UNAIDS, a United Nations initiative, some 38 million people worldwide are currently infected with HIV. Almost as many have died as a result of AIDS since the outbreak of the HIV pandemic in the 1980s. In the search for new approaches to antiviral therapies, scientists at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin have now developed a new technology that can be used to analyze and impact key stages of the HIV life cycle. Their findings were published today in the journal Nature Structural and Molecular Biology.

The bacterium Escherichia coli is found in the human intestine, and elsewhere. There it is harmless, but in certain conditions it can become a pathogen. It can cause bladder infections or even sepsis. A team of researchers led by RESIST professor Marco Galardini at TWINCORE - Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research, a joint facility of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Hannover Medical School (MHH), together with colleagues from the medical faculty of the University of Paris, has now investigated whether certain genes of the bacterium are associated with the severity of the diseases caused. They have now published their findings in the journal PLOS Genetics.

What tasks need to be done today, and which is the most urgent? People have to constantly set priorities in their daily life. Bacteria are no different: They too must prioritize when combating viruses with CRISPR. However, it was unclear how this prioritization takes place. Scientists from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg, a joint venture of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and the Julius Maximilian University (JMU) Würzburg, in cooperation with researchers from the universities of Würzburg, Freiburg and Leipzig, have now described an underlying mechanism for the first time. Their study was published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

The Alliance of German Science Organisations strongly supports the Federal Government’s consistent action against Russia's belligerent attack on Ukraine, which is in violation of international law.