Bacteria fend off invading viruses with molecular scissors that slice up viral DNA — a system called CRISPR that holds immense promise for gene editing therapies. But viruses can fight back with a molecular trick that stops the scissors from ever being made. Writing in the journal Nature, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF, USA) in cooperation with researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig describe how a viral “anti-CRISPR” protein sits on the bacteria’s protein assembly line — which is known as a ribosome — and jams it as a CRISPR protein named Cas12 begins to form. This triggers the ribosome’s quality control mechanism to destroy the emerging protein, along with its messenger RNA (mRNA) blueprint. HIRI is a site of the HZI in cooperation with the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU).

Have you ever wondered where our medicines actually come from? The answer often lies right beneath our feet, in the hidden world of bacteria and fungi. At Lower Saxony Day 2026, you can dive into the fascinating world of microorganisms with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and discover how nature helps us in the fight against infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance. The HZI will be represented at the state mile on Kurt-Schumacher-Straße at the booth of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture (MWK). The public festival will take place from June 12–14, 2026, in Braunschweig.

The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti (HAZU)) has announced the election of 32 new members to its ranks. Among the newly elected corresponding members is Prof. Luka Čičin-Šain, head of the department “Viral Immunology” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI). Čičin-Šain studies how our immune system responds to widespread viruses and develops new vaccine technologies against viral diseases.