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Microbial Drugs
The majority of the medically important antibiotic drugs are derived from secondary metabolites, which are produced by bacteria and filamentous fungi. Despite intensive world-wide efforts using alternative approaches, no other concept could so far surpass the historically successful strategy to exploit biologically active natural products as candidates for anti-infective drugs. The recently observed, increasing resistance of the human pathogens against antibiotics has prompted us to intensify our search for novel lead structures from microorganisms and fungi, which can be used as anti-infective drugs.
Human in vitro lung models for testing inhaled drugs
The lung is a highly complex organ made up of over 50 different cell types. In the alveoli, a single layer of cells forms the barrier through which the exchange of oxygen and CO2 between the lungs and the bloodstream takes place. This barrier, also known as the…
A new addition to the CRISPR toolbox: Teaching the gene scissors to detect RNA
Bacteria have developed special defense mechanisms to protect themselves against viruses, which by no means infect only humans. As part of these so-called CRISPR-Cas systems, a CRISPR ribonucleic acid (crRNA), which serves as a “guide RNA,” recognizes regions of a…
Antibiotics of the future?
The collection of myxobacteria at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) has proven time and again to be a real treasure trove. The soil bacteria, which were initially regarded as not cultivable, have been grown and researched on a large scale since the 1970s…
Dirk Heinz: "The great strengths of the HZI are its solidarity and team spirit"
Professor Heinz, how do you remember the beginning of the pandemic? I remember the last major face-to-face meeting in mid-March 2020 in Berlin very well: a kick-off meeting for the foundation of our new Helmholtz Institute in Greifswald. Even then, everything revolved…
Shining a spotlight on the cellular mechanism
Um die Auswirkungen einer Infektion auf den Zellstoffwechsel sichtbar zu machen, vergleicht er gesunde und infizierte Zellen in Hinblick auf die in ihnen vorhandene RNA (englisch: Ribonucleic Acid). RNA dient in der Zelle als Vorlage für die Herstellung von Proteinen…
New viruses, new challenges
Virus particles are tiny – 20 to 300 nanometres in diameter and thus about 1000 times smaller than a human cell. They consist of little more than their genetic material and a protective protein shell. They even save their own metabolism and use their host’s instead.…
A Biologist with Nano Vision
His post-doctoral work took Christian Sieben to Switzerland. With a scholarship and his own project in hand, he moved to the physics department of the EPFL in Lausanne. There, Sieben remained true to virus research, but also worked on projects with a technical focus:…
