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Treatment with broad-spectrum antibiotics often leads to side effects, as it affects not only the pathogens but also the “good” bacteria in the gut. A research team from Hannover Medical School (MHH), Saarland University Hospital (UKS), and the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) has now demonstrated that the natural compound argyrin B is highly effective against the pathogen Clostridioides difficile while largely sparing the beneficial gut microbiome. The researchers published their findings in the journal npj Antimicrobials and Resistance.

08.10.2026

HIPS

Portrait

Through the Helmholtz Global Fellow Program, the Helmholtz Association supports outstanding international researchers whose projects bring fresh scientific momentum to Helmholtz centers. One of these fellows is Dr Jiteshkumar Prakash Deore, who has been conducting research at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) since May 2026. In Dr Kenan Bozhuyuk’s group "Synthetic Biology of Microbial Natural Products", he is working on new synthetic biology platforms for the development of antimicrobial agents.

07.10.2026

HIPS

News

Why do the gut microbiomes of people from industrialized and non-industrialized regions differ? A study by the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the University of Trento (Italy), and the University of Tübingen shows that diet alone does not explain these differences. In artificially assembled gut communities, the team examined numerous dietary components and demonstrated that plant-based dietary fiber shifted the balance in favor of the bacterium Segatella copri, which is particularly common in non-industrialized regions. However, the effect also depended on which other bacteria were present. The results were published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

06.10.2026

HZI Campus

News

Asgard archaea, our closest known microbial relatives, play a key role in current models of the origin of more complex organisms, known as eukaryotes (all animals, plants, protists and fungi). However, their biology has so far been poorly understood. Microbiologists led by the University of Vienna in cooperation with the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria demonstrate in a new study published in the journal Nature that these cells move through their environment in a surprisingly dynamic manner. These new findings enable the empirical testing of models for the origin of complex life for the first time.

02.10.2026

HZI Campus

AI generated visualization of a DNA double helix

News

In acute, life-threatening infections, rapidly characterizing the microorganisms in a patient sample can help guide diagnosis and treatment. This is possible by using computational methods known as taxonomic profilers, which can analyze metagenome sequencing data generated from the genomic information of these microorganisms, and compare it with reference genomes of individual microorganisms. However, taxonomic profilers are a technology still under development and not yet in common use. Current methods can produce false-positive results or inaccurate abundance estimates. Researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) have now developed a new taxonomic profiler called Metax. By using information about how sequencing reads are distributed across microbial reference genomes, Metax can distinguish true microbial signals from artifacts more reliably and improve both taxonomic identification and abundance estimation. The study has been published in the journal Cell.

28.09.2026

BRICS

Visual representation of corramycin binding to DNA gyrase

News

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 10 million people contract tuberculosis (TB) each year—one of the deadliest infectious diseases worldwide. Treatment is lengthy and typically involves a combination of several antibiotics over many months. Particularly problematic are drug-resistant strains, against which the antibiotics used are only partially effective. New active compounds capable of overcoming existing resistance are therefore urgently needed. An international team led by the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), the Institut Pasteur and Université Paris Cité has now demonstrated that the natural compound corramycin has a previously unknown effect against the tuberculosis pathogen and attacks it in a novel way. The researchers published their findings in the journal Advanced Science.

23.09.2026

HIPS

HZI in the media

... am Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) und dessen Saarbrücker Standort, dem Helmholtz-Institut für Pharmazeutische ...

26.10.2026

Verband Deutscher Biologen e.V.

Dr. Milan Gerovac, Nachwuchsgruppenleiter am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig, erhält den begehrten ...

24.10.2026

Homburg

heads the Research Group “Molecular Cell Biology” at the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI), has shed new light on the central

23.10.2026

Health Medicine Network

... “

Das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung: Wissenschaftler:innen am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) untersuchen ...

22.10.2026

DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

... Lange, Leiterin der Abteilung Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig und Mitglied der Ständigen ...

22.10.2026

DIE WELT

... befallen. Am HZI in Braunschweig wird daran geforscht.

Am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig ...

22.10.2026

NDR Norddeutscher Rundfunk

are extremely complex.

Researchers at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) have now shown that artificial

21.10.2026

Phys.org

Würzburg (JMU) und dem Helmholtz-Institut für RNA-basierte Infektionsforschung (HIRI), einem Standort des HZI in ...

20.10.2026

Regional Heute

community. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) that operates in collaboration with Saarland University.

20.10.2026

WDC Tv News

... Verabreichung eintritt. Expertin Berit Lange vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung betonte, dass jetzt der richtige Moment ...

16.10.2026

upday

... Berit Lange im Gespräch mit FOCUS online. Sie ist Leiterin der Abteilung Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum ...

16.10.2026

Focus Online

protection against BV. Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research have reported evidence that antibodies produced after

16.10.2026

Medscape

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