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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.

For many diseases, the tools of medicine are reaching their limits. CRISPR technologies open new avenues for diagnostics and therapies, although the natural source of CRISPR remains largely untapped. 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, now demonstrate a new way to study CRISPR systems that can accelerate their conversion into tools. Their approach was published today in the journal Molecular Cell.

Liver cancer is the third most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. So far, the treatment options for two types of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), have been inadequate, while the number of new cases has been rising. A study by researchers at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) now offers hope. A vaccine based on a highly attenuated infectious agent called Listeria monocytogenes proved to be safe and effective protection in premalignant and malignant liver diseases in preclinical mouse models.

An international research team from 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, describes the dual effect of the endogenous substance itaconic acid, which is both antiviral and anti-inflammatory. Their study, which has now appeared in the journal PLoS Pathogens, opens up perspectives for possible therapeutic applications of itaconic acid against severe courses of disease in viral infections.