Newsroom

Marco Galardini (left) and Maureen Obara in the lab.
News
Certain changes in the genetic material of pathogens can alter their ability to infect human cells or protect them better from defense by the immune system. Researchers were able to observe this effect particularly impressive in the SARS-CoV-2 virus. During the coronavirus pandemic, an interdisciplinary team at TWINCORE, Centre for Experimental and Clinical Infection Research in Hanover, investigated the interaction between pairs of mutations that might have triggered several of these changes in infectivity and immune escape. They have now published their findings in the journal Genome Biology. The TWINCORE is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and Hannover Medical School (MHH).
23.08.2024
Interview
The current outbreak of the Mpox virus originated in Central Africa. A first case has now been discovered in Europe. The WHO has declared the highest alert level. In an interview with Helmholtz, Fabian Leendertz, Director of the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH), puts the events in context.
23.08.2024
3D illustration of the cytomegalovirus
News
The protective effect of established COVID-19 vaccines is initially very robust, but wanes relatively quickly. This limitation imposes a need for periodic booster shots, which drives vaccine hesitation. In contrast, an innovative vector vaccine developed at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) presents a compelling alternative. It elicits prolonged immune response in animal models, and maintains its efficacy over extended time. The concept employs an animal cytomegalovirus (MCMV; murine cytomegalovirus) as the vector that expresses and delivers the coronavirus spike protein information. Crucially, this vector poses no threat to humans, enhancing the vaccine's safety profile.
20.08.2024
Preview of sCIRCLE
News
Modern cutting-edge research generates enormous amounts of data, presenting scientists with the challenge of visualizing and analyzing it. Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) in Würzburg and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (THWS) have developed a tool for visualizing large data sets. The sCIRCLE tool allows users to explore single-cell analysis data in an interactive and user-friendly way. Their results have been published in the journal NAR Genomics and Bioinformatics.
30.07.2024
3D culture of hair follicles with three hairs.
News
Hair follicle infections are often difficult to treat because bacteria settle in the gap between hair and skin, where it is difficult for active substances to reach them. In order to investigate this scenario more closely in the laboratory, researchers from the Department of Drug Delivery Across Biological Barriers at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) have now developed a model with human hair follicles embedded in a matrix produced using 3D printing. In the future, this model can be used to test the effectiveness of new drug candidates against corresponding pathogens directly on human follicles. The team has published their results in the journal ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering.
29.07.2024
Graphical representation of the world
News
In the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, the effectiveness of government-ordered measures to contain the pandemic, such as regular testing and the wearing of medical masks, was repeatedly called into question. Through a large-scale analysis of viral genome data, a working group led by DZIF researcher Prof Alice McHardy at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) has now discovered that significantly fewer new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus entered Germany in connection with the introduction of certain measures such as the wearing of medical masks and free access to rapid antigen tests.
18.07.2024

HZI in the media

... er Klinischer Direktor des Helmholz Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und Gründungsdirektor des Zentrums für Individualisierte ...

21.08.2025
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Deutsche Gesellschaft für Innere Medizin e.V.

Nature Medicine

 

. The CiiM is a joint institution of the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) and Hannover Medical School (MHH).

21.08.2025
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Medical Xpress

und damit einhergehenden Erkrankungen zu sein.“

 

Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung

 

Originalpublikation:

 

J. Botey-Bataller, N. van

21.08.2025
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Verband Deutscher Biologen e.V.

Now, a team of researchers, led by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Germany, has reported that a gene in the

21.08.2025
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The Hindu

Cicin-Sain, a viral immunologist at Germany's Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, is leading the development of a respiratory syncytial

16.08.2025
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The Times of India

Instituts für Pharmazeutische Forschung Saarland (HIPS), einem gemeinsamen Standort des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) ...

15.08.2025
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Springer Medizin

... Einrichtung betreiben die MHH und das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig gemeinsam.

 

In seine ...

15.08.2025
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Neue Presse (Hannover)

Medicine Bundesamt für Verbraucherschutz und Lebensmittelsicherheit Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ARD alpha Universität Würzburg

13.08.2025
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Brisant

... Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Dunja Bruder, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung, Braunschweig und Institut für Med. Mikrobiologie ...

12.08.2025
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Deutsches Ärzteblatt

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