The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) is once again coordinating an international research and exchange project in fungal research through “Mycobiomics 2.0”. The recently launched project is funded as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) under the EU’s Horizon Europe research framework program and has a total budget of nearly 1.8 million euros. Mycobiomics 2.0 builds on the successful predecessor projects “GoMyTri” (2014–2018) and “Mycobiomics” (2021–2025), which were also coordinated by the HZI. The project focuses on the discovery of new anti-infective compounds to combat the increasing spread of antimicrobial resistance.

A highly contagious viral disease, sheeppox spreads rapidly and can affect large portions of a flock in a short time. The disease is particularly dangerous because it can cause very high mortality rates, especially in young animals, and dramatically reduces productivity by damaging wool, meat and milk yields. By extracting DNA from a range of ancient animal remains, an international team of geneticists, historians, virologists, protein chemists and conservators, has been able to uncover more than 3,500 years of history of the sheeppox virus (SPPV). The Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH), a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), took part to the study led by University College Dublin (UCD).

For its cross-regional collaboration, the DEEP-DV research consortium (“Disrupt – Evade – Exploit: Gene expression and manipulation of the host response in DNA virus infections”) has been awarded the 2026 North German Science Prize. The consortium, jointly headed by Prof. Nicole Fischer (University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE)) and Prof. Melanie Brinkmann (Technische Universität Braunschweig and Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI)), is investigating how DNA viruses evade the immune system and remain in the body permanently. Since 2012, the federal states of Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein have used this prize to recognize cooperation projects across a range of disciplines; this year’s award focuses on the life sciences. Three projects were honored, each receiving prize money of 83,333 euros.