Newsroom

Two people in the lab, smiling at the camera

News

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is constantly mutating. As a result, vaccines become less effective and need to be regularly adapted. This was the case in 2025 with the JN.1 variant. An interdisciplinary team from Hannover and Göttingen has now investigated how the immune system responds to adapted vaccines. The findings were published in Nature Communications.

17.08.2026

TWINCORE

Two petri dishes containing myxobacteria are held aloft, one in each hand

News

Most antibiotics used clinically are based on natural compounds produced by bacteria and other microorganisms. At the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), researchers are using soil-dwelling myxobacteria as a source of new active ingredients. They are able to discover new active compounds primarily in bacteria that have not yet been extensively studied. Through decades of work, a HIPS research team has significantly expanded the biological diversity of myxobacteria. They are now making these microorganisms and their genetic data available to the entire research community, as they provide the basis for the discovery of new bioactive compounds. The researchers published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.

12.08.2026

HIPS

News

At first glance, mucus sounds more unpleasant than essential. In fact, it forms an important protective layer on our mucous membranes: It transports dirt, bacteria, and viruses out of the body and makes it difficult for pathogens to penetrate our cells in the first place. Prof. Christian Sieben, head of the research group “Nano Infection Biology” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI), is studying this crucial moment in an infection in great detail. Using state-of-the-art microscopy, he observes individual virus particles and investigates how they interact with our cells. In this episode of InFact, he explains how respiratory viruses overcome our natural barriers and why influenza viruses in particular have significant pandemic potential.

23.07.2026

HZI Campus

A view inside a laboratory; two hands wearing blue gloves working with a pipette

News

Bacteria have spent decades evolving resistance to virtually every antibiotic we have thrown at them. To stay ahead, new drugs must hit targets that existing antibiotics have never touched. A research team at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now developed a series of synthetic drug candidates that do exactly that: By blocking an essential molecular supply system, these molecules cut off the bacteria's essential vitamins supply and starve them to death. The team published its findings in two studies back to back in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry.

21.07.2026

HIPS

Macrophages under an electron microscope

News

Macrophages are considered the “scavenger cells” of the immune system, but some pathogens exploit these very cells as hiding places. Researchers from the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg and Philipps-Universität Marburg have now discovered a mechanism that helps immune cells to balance their response to infection: a long non-coding ribonucleic acid called SAILR, which acts as an apoptosis regulator. The findings were published recently in the journal PNAS.

20.07.2026

HIRI

News

Prof. Hortense Slevogt, research group leader at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and lead senior physician at Hannover Medical School (MHH), has been appointed to the Commission on Anti-Infectives, Resistance and Therapy (ART) at the Robert Koch Institute (RKI). The ART Commission is an independent expert panel at the RKI that develops recommendations on the rational use of anti-infectives based on current scientific evidence. Its goal is to ensure the effective use of anti-infectives while limiting the emergence and spread of resistant pathogens.

15.07.2026

HZI Campus

HZI in the media

available genomic resources. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University.

14.08.2026

News Medical

... verfügbaren genomischen Ressourcen erheblich. HIPS ist ein Standort des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung in Zusammenarbeit ...

12.08.2026

DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

... nennen wären da zum Beispiel das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung oder aber das Deutsche Zentrum für ...

11.08.2026

news38

Ein Forschungsteam am Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS) hat nun eine Reihe synthetischer ...

07.08.2026

ZMK - Zahnheilkunde Management Kultur

des HIRI kooperieren hierbei mit dem Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und dem Helmholtz-Institut für One Health (HIOH). Ein

06.08.2026

Börse Express

... beschleunigen

Das DFKI hat zusammen mit dem Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS), der ...

02.08.2026

SR Saarländischer Rundfunk

... Forschungszentrum Fahrzeugtechnik (NFF) oder dem Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI).

Am 24. März 19973 ...

01.08.2026

t-online.de

... including to Germany, for further testing. Professor Fabian Leendertz at the Helmholtz Institute for One ...

31.07.2026

Deutsche Welle

Spannend: Am Exponat des Helmholtz-Instituts Saarland kann man nach Bodenbakterien suchen. | Foto: Ilja C. ...

30.07.2026

Die Rheinpfalz

Sprachmodellen und Einzelzellanalysen bei, das Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland übernimmt die chemische Synthese ...

29.07.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

... in Wirkstoffdesign, Sprachmodellen und Einzelzellanalysen bei, das Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland ( HIPS ) ...

24.07.2026

Management & Krankenhaus

together the Fraunhofer ITMP in Hamburg, the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Enamine Deutschland GmbH from

23.07.2026

Associated Press

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