Press Archive
20.02.09
STIFTUNG NORD/LB • ÖFFENTLICHE und Braunschweigische Landessparkasse fördern BITZ mit 130.000 Euro
Nachwuchsförderung
Die STIFTUNG NORD/LB ∙ ÖFFENTLICHE vergibt in Kooperation mit dem Braunschweiger Informatik- und Technologiezentrum (gemeinnützige BITZ GmbH) drei Stipendien für Nachwuchswissenschaftler in einem Gesamtwert von 120.000 Euro. Zusätzlich gibt die Braunschweigische Landessparkasse eine Spende in Höhe von 10.000 Euro an das BITZ zur Förderung der Medikamentenforschung. Aus diesem Anlass laden wir...
16.02.09
When acute hepatitis develops into chronic hepatitis
Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre in Braunschweig demonstrate how the immune system reacts to a hepatitis B infection
Hepatitis B is the most prevalent infectious disease in the world. It results in either an acute infection or, in rare cases, it can develop into a chronic disease. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig have now examined the way in which the immune system reacts differently to both chronic and acute hepatitis B. To achieve this, Carlos A. Guzmán, Head of...
09.01.09
When the hunters become the hunted
Braunschweig Helmholtz researchers show how bacteria drive immune cells to death
The immune system defends the body against pathogens. Macrophages are part of the first line of defence: they identify pathogens that have gained entry and destroy them. Bacteria that infiltrate the body are not powerless to resist the macrophages, however. Substances formed by the bacteria attack the macrophages, an attack that they sometimes fail to survive.
Eva Medina and her Infection...
31.10.08
Biosynthetics production with detours
Helmholtz researchers in Braunschweig calculate how more can be brought out of bacteria
Scientists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig, Germany have achieved an important advance in better understanding metabolic pathways in bacteria and their use. Using computer models, the “System and Synthetic Biology” working group, headed up by Vítor Martins dos Santos, calculated the genetic changes that are necessary for increasing the production of...
17.10.08
New antibiotic candidates from Braunschweig
Mode of action of HZI natural products elucidated – substances also act against bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics
A group of antibiotic natural products discovered at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig points out a new mode of action against pathogenic bacteria. Isolated from myxobacteria, the substances prevent an enzym of the pathogens from being able to translate their genetic material. In this way, the propagation of bacteria – such as tuberculosis pathogens - is inhibited....
11.09.08
New from Old
Novel tuberculosis vaccine in Germany in clinical phase
For the first time in more than 80 years a promising live vaccine against tuberculosis has passed into the clinical phase in Germany: Since Monday of this week the new vaccine, which goes by the designation "VPM1002", has begun safety testing on volunteers in a Phase I clinical trial in Neuss, Germany. It is based on a highly safe vaccine that was introduced in 1921. However, the vaccine has been...
26.08.08
Das Twincore nimmt seine Arbeit auf
Zentrum für Experimentelle und Klinische Infektionsforschung am 29. August eröffnet
Bessere Hygiene und Antibiotika haben in vielen Teilen der Welt bakterielle Infektionen zurückgedrängt; besiegt sind sie jedoch nicht – im Gegenteil: Manche Krankheiten wie Tuberkulose erleben gerade wieder eine gefährliche Renaissance. Erreger entwickeln Resistenzen gegen Medikamente, weltweiter Handel und Reiseverkehr transportieren Krankheitserreger um die ganze Welt. Virale Infektionen wie...
22.07.08
Biofilms use chemical weapons
Researcher at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research discovers defence strategies used by biofilm bacteria
Bacteria rarely come as loners; more often they grow in crowds and squat on surfaces where they form a community together. These so-called biofilms develop on any surface that bacteria can attach themselves to. The dilemma we face is that neither disinfectants and antibiotics, nor phagocytes and our immune system can destroy these biofilms. This is a particular problem in hospitals if these...
08.07.08
Argyrin: natural substance raises hope for new cancer therapies
Scientists at HZI, MHH and LUH publish previously-unknown chemical mechanism
The effective treatment of many forms of cancer continues to pose a major problem for medicine. Many tumours fail to respond to standard forms of chemotherapy or become resistant to the medication. Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig, the Hannover Medical School (MHH) and Leibniz-Universität (LUH) in Hanover have now discovered a chemical mechanism with...
25.06.08
Purple extremist thrives under inhospitable conditions
HZI scientists discovers new protein that repairs DNA under extreme conditions
Mild environmental conditions are a prerequisite for life. Strong acids or dissolved metallic salts in high concentrations are detrimental to both humans and to simpler life forms, such as bacteria. Such conditions destroy proteins, ensuring that all biological functions in the cells come to a standstill. So what do we find at the limits of hostile conditions where we still find life? Scientists...
