Newsroom

Master student Julian Thimm collects a soil sample

Story

Scientists in Saarbrücken are on a mission to discover natural products from soil bacteria in order to develop these into new medicines for the treatment of infectious diseases. They are asking the public to join their efforts and become part of an ongoing citizen science project launched recently to improve access to regional microbial biodiversity.

05.11.2018

HIPS

Story

More and more resistant pathogens are spreading that cannot be harmed by traditional antibiotics. They are a great danger to the public health systems throughout the world. Without a major change in medical research and development, diseases that can be treated today may become incurable in just a few years. A small wound on a finger may suddenly turn life-threatening, since more and more bacteria become resistant to common antibiotics. The development of resistance is a natural effect of evolution. Resistance arises during the use of antibiotics as some bacteria that are immune to the medication due to genetic variance survive the treatment and then continue to proliferate. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) considers antibiotic resistances to be one of the “major threats to global health and food safety”. They cause longer stays in hospital and therefore increasing costs of therapy and higher mortality. The spreading of resistances can be explained by a number of reasons, for example overly eager administration of antibiotics in the treatment of the symptoms of common colds, the use of antibiotics for insufficient periods of time or the improper use in animal husbandry. But one fact is clear: Solutions must be found rapidly by innovative research.

01.11.2018

HZI Campus

HIPS

Scientists stand in front of a screen on which the online monitoring system SORMAS is displayed.

Story

In autumn 2017, Nigeria suspected an outbreak of human monkey pox. Immediately, epidemiologists adapted their online disease surveillance system and travelled to Nigeria to support the locals. The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa revealed an urgent need of efficient disease surveillance systems, because it became evident that the outcome of an epidemic also depends on how fast disease control measures are implemented. HZI scientists from the Department of Epidemiology, led by Gérard Krause, teamed up with Nigerian scientists and developed a mobile-based application, which allows real-time data collection and application of disease control measures called Surveillance, Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System (SORMAS).

01.05.2018

HZI Campus

Thomas Ebensen administers a new vaccine in a mouse via the mucous membranes – in humans, this might be done with a nasal spray in the future

Story

Vaccination affords the best protection from many infectious diseases. Vaccines are usually administered with a syringe, but researchers are working on alternatives – like a nasal spray or a vaccination cream. These would not only avoid the unpleasant injection, but even increase the effectiveness. Vaccines usually contain killed or attenuated pathogens and are injected into the patient. This ensures that the entire vaccine truly ends up inside the body. Recognising the pathogens in the vaccine as dangerous foreign material, the immune system prepares itself for defence. The administration by injection with a syringe has its drawbacks as well: It is not the natural pathway of infection and the elicited immune response therefore does not always afford optimal protection from the pathogen. Vaccination also requires trained personnel that simply is not available everywhere and at all times, especially in less developed countries.

01.12.2017

HZI Campus

HIPS

Story

Over the past few years, public awareness of the microbial communities in our gut has grown significantly – partially thanks to Giulia Enders' book "Gut: The Inside Story Of Our Body's Most Under-Rated Organ". Scientific studies on antibiotics and the microbiota have also attracted attention: The use of these products is hypothesised to disrupt the sensitive inhabitants of our intestine and may cause serious damage. So how can we protect our gut flora against this?

04.09.2017

HZI Campus

HZI in the media

... haben. Ein Forschungsteam des Helmholtz-Instituts für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI) in Würzburg hat in Zusammenarbeit ...

14.04.2026

PresseBox - DE

... der Infektion und Nozizeption“ am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig. Nozizeption ist der Fachbegriff ...

14.04.2026

Verband Deutscher Biologen e.V.

... recht nicht bei Fabian Leendertz, der in Greifswald das „Helmholtz-Institut für One Health“ leitet. Im ...

14.04.2026

FAZ.NET

... sich auch das Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland ( HIPS ), das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ( HZI ) ...

09.04.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... ÖAW in Wien und nun Gruppenleiter am Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig, forscht an ...

08.04.2026

DerStandard.de

... group within the Microstar Program at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and a ...

31.03.2026

Informations Dienst Wissenschaft

... an der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover und am Helmholtz Institut für Infektionen in Braunschweig die Wirkung ...

28.03.2026

Hamburger Abendblatt

led by wildlife veterinarian Fabian Leendertz, who heads the Helmholtz Institute for One Health, took hundreds of samples from meat and

27.03.2026

Science.org

Gesellschaft. Apropos Standort Braunschweig: Auch das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung HZI, in dessen Räumlichkeiten auf dem ...

27.03.2026

transkript

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research

After infection with SARS-CoV-2, up to 10 percent of people in Germany go on to develop Long COVID.

26.03.2026

Mirage.News

... von verschiedenen Hörnchen, wie jüngste Erkenntnisse des Helmholtz Instituts für One Health in Greifswald kürzlich ...

26.03.2026

Tagesschau

zur Bekämpfung der Tuberkulose und des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung erstellt. Zahlreiche weitere Fachgesellschaften und

24.03.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

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