Newsroom

Group photo with three men in front of a wall with colorful dots

Story

Tonsillitis, bacterial pneumonia or a middle ear infection? For decades, we could easily treat infections like these with antibiotics. However, as bacteria increasingly display resistance to antimicrobial drugs, this status is being threatened. To safeguard us against a future without antibiotics, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are exploring new treatment strategies. In the department “Chemical Biology” led by Prof. Mark Brönstrup, they are developing a pathoblocker that neutralizes a disease-causing toxin of Staphylococcus aureus without affecting bacterial growth. By disarming the pathogen instead of killing it, this approach could reduce the evolutionary pressure that drives the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

22.09.2026

HZI Campus

Illustration of a heart organoid with a tubulin cytoskeleton (red), cell nuclei (blue), and cardiac muscle cells (green)

Story

Organoids might sound a bit like science fiction. Yet they have firmly established themselves as a reality in research. Offering a wide range of possibilities, they enable scientists to study organ functions, diseases, and treatment options. These mini-organs are also opening up entirely new avenues for research into infections.

30.06.2026

HZI Campus

Collecting samples at MICROBELIX Wilderness Camp.

Story

There is an urgent need for novel drugs in the fight against infectious diseases, and natural compounds derived from soil bacteria are a promising source for their development. Researchers at HIPS, the HZI site in Saarland, are counting on the public’s help: The citizen science project MICROBELIX aims to harness the biodiversity of soil bacteria for drug discovery.

18.06.2026

HIPS

The word “impfen” (German word for vaccines) spelled out using dice with individual letters, arranged on a vaccination certificate

Story

According to estimates by the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccinations have saved more than 150 million lives over the past 50 years. However, their development would not have been possible without the use of animal testing. On April 24, these two topics converge: This day marks both World Laboratory Animal Day and the start of the WHO’s World Immunization Week. At the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), researchers in the project ENDURIVAC are developing an innovative vaccine technology that could eliminate the need for boosters in the long term. In their research, they also use animal testing to assess the vaccine’s efficacy and safety.

24.04.2026

HZI Campus

Story

INFORBIO is a multidisciplinary project that combines participatory forest management by indigenous communities, agroforestry, the establishment of mobile health clinics, and the development of an early warning system for zoonotic disease surveillance through a multifaceted One Health approach. The overarching goal is to safeguard forests as natural barriers against the spread of zoonotic diseases while improving livelihoods in remote areas of the Central African Republic (CAR) and Cameroon. As part of INFORBIO, researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH), a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), are developing early warning systems for zoonoses.

23.03.2026

HIOH

Two researchers examine a Petri dish in the laboratory.

Story

The microbiome performs a variety of health-maintaining functions in the body. The microbes can produce nutrients, dampen inflammation or displace pathogens. In order to fulfill all these tasks, the microbiome must be in balance. For the microbiome, this means first and foremost that it is as diverse as possible. This makes it harder for harmful microorganisms to find a niche to live in. If microbiome diversity decreases or harmful germs dominate, there is a risk of inflammation, infections or chronic diseases - and this is precisely where the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) comes in. Using “microbiome engineering”, Dr. Lisa Osbelt-Block and Prof. Till Strowig are specifically editing the gut microbiome to prevent disease.

19.02.2026

HZI Campus

HZI in the media

20.09.2026

MSN.com

19.09.2026

Borns IT- und Windows-Blog

17.09.2026

SR Saarländischer Rundfunk

10.09.2026

TakeToNews

international institutions including Trinity College Dublin, the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne,

04.09.2026

News Medical

... der TU Braunschweig und Gruppenleitern am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI).

Wie DNA-Viren dem ...

04.09.2026

Regional Heute

... verfügbaren genomischen Ressourcen erheblich. HIPS ist ein Standort des Helmholtz- Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in Zusammenarbeit ...

04.09.2026

Bochumer-Zeitung

Technische Universität Braunschweig, das HZI – Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig sowie die Medizinische Hochschule ...

03.09.2026

Regierungsportal M-V

... des Exzellenzclusters RESIST und des Helmholtz-Instituts für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI) in Würzburg haben nun ...

03.09.2026

Bio M

... die präzise Zerspanung großer Bauteile. Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig und die Medizinische Hochschule ...

01.09.2026

Regionalupdate.de

... zunehmen. Mit der Gründung des HIOH im Jahr 2021 als Standort des Braunschweiger Helmholtz-Zentrums für ...

31.08.2026

Management & Krankenhaus

Wie man sich mit Mpox anstecken kann und warum sich Personen mit häufig wechselnden Sexpartnern impfen lassen sollten.

28.08.2026

Apotheken Umschau

Register now for the HZI newsletter

and stay up to date!

Email address *

We use rapidmail to send our newsletter. I agree that my data entered here will be transmitted to rapidmail. I have taken note of the HZI's privacy policy and have been informed of my rights.