Natural substances are an important source of active ingredients used in medicine. However, the chemical diversity of fungi in particular has not yet been sufficiently researched. The EU project Mycobiomics, coordinated by Marc Stadler, Head of the Department “Microbial Drugs” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), is investigating the biodiversity of fungi in Europe, Asia and Africa in order to identify pharmaceutically valuable secondary metabolites. In May and June 2025, project participants met in Kenya and South Africa for an expedition and a subsequent symposium.

Excellent conditions for research, an inspiring atmosphere and fair cooperation: for all this, the research group “One Health Surveillance” (OHS) at the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) has been awarded the “Best Research Environment 2024” prize by the Junge Akademie. Under the leadership of Dr. Fee Zimmermann, the OHS group is establishing health and environmental observatories, so-called “One Health Exploratories”, which collect long-term and systematic data on the health of humans, animals and the environment and integrate it into a big picture. The HIOH is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig in cooperation with the University of Greifswald, the University Medicine Greifswald and the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut.

Influenza viruses can trigger epigenetic changes in the alveolar epithelium, the cell layer that lines the alveoli, permanent changes in gene activity without changing the DNA itself. These changes have a lasting effect on subsequent immune responses and result in the body no longer being able to react appropriately to the bacterial pathogens in the event of a subsequent infection with pneumococci. A research team at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the University Hospital Magdeburg (UMMD) has published new findings on the long-term consequences of an influenza A infection in a mouse model in the journal Cell Communication and Signaling.