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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

News

A single vaccination that provides protection for many years – so far, this has rarely been possible with vaccines against respiratory pathogens. Regular booster shots are often necessary. Dr. Henning Jacobsen and Casper Silvis from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) want to change that. As part of the ENDURIVAC project, they are developing a vaccine technology designed to provide long-lasting protection after just one dose. In this episode of the HZI podcast InFact, they explain how the technology works, why it is initially being used to develop a vaccine against RSV and whether booster shots could largely become unnecessary in the future.

23.09.2026

HZI Campus

CiiM

Group photo with three men in front of a wall with colorful dots

Story

Tonsillitis, bacterial pneumonia or a middle ear infection? For decades, we could easily treat infections like these with antibiotics. However, as bacteria increasingly display resistance to antimicrobial drugs, this status is being threatened. To safeguard us against a future without antibiotics, researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are exploring new treatment strategies. In the department “Chemical Biology” led by Prof. Mark Brönstrup, they are developing a pathoblocker that neutralizes a disease-causing toxin of Staphylococcus aureus without affecting bacterial growth. By disarming the pathogen instead of killing it, this approach could reduce the evolutionary pressure that drives the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

22.09.2026

HZI Campus

News

The ability of cells to move and change their positions is essential for various processes in our bodies. Immune cells move to sites of action, epithelial cells migrate during wound closure and neurons wire up their axons for signal transmission over long distances, while in metastasis, cancer cells employ their motile machineries to spread throughout our bodies. A team around Prof. Klemens Rottner heading the Research Group “Molecular Cell Biology” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) has now shed new light on the central molecular interactions that accompany the formation of cytoskeletal networks at the forefront of migrating cells. Obtained insights pave the way for defining how such processes are changing in diseases and how they can potentially be modulated in the future. The results have just been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

21.09.2026

HZI Campus

News

The Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) is once again coordinating an international research and exchange project in fungal research through “Mycobiomics 2.0”. The recently launched project is funded as a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) under the EU’s Horizon Europe research framework program and has a total budget of nearly 1.8 million euros. Mycobiomics 2.0 builds on the successful predecessor projects “GoMyTri” (2014–2018) and “Mycobiomics” (2021–2025), which were also coordinated by the HZI. The project focuses on the discovery of new anti-infective compounds to combat the increasing spread of antimicrobial resistance.

18.09.2026

HZI Campus

HIPS

HZI in the media

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

14.10.2026

DIE WELT

also included Japanese microbiologists and collaborators from IST Austria and HZI Braunschweig (Germany), demonstrated that actin inhibitors

14.10.2026

Health Medicine Network

... in der Abteilung „Virale Immunologie“ am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI), hat die WHO als externer ...

13.10.2026

DeutschesGesundheitsPortal

tool called Metax, developed by researchers at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and described in the

12.10.2026

Bioengineer.org

parts of the microbiome. HIPS is a site of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with Saarland University. “We

12.10.2026

Technology Networks

... auch gezielte Forschungsmittel an das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI): Die Forschungsgruppe von Prof ...

12.10.2026

Ad Hoc News

... nur in England vor. Laut Angaben des Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung ist es dem Erreger ...

12.10.2026

Frankfurter Rundschau online

... und Belgien. Aus Deutschland sind das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI), das Fraunhofer-Institut für Toxikologie und ...

12.10.2026

MTA Dialog

... weitere Versuche herstellen.

Auch das Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung (HZI) in Braunschweig ist beteiligt. Die ...

11.10.2026

t-online.de

... unterschiedlichen Regionen unterscheidet. Der Forscher vom Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung konnte in seiner Studie zeigen, ...

10.10.2026

rbb radioeins

Tawk, Youssef El Mouali and colleagues at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, together with collaborators at the University of

09.10.2026

Bioengineer.org

... Leiterin der Abteilung für Epidemiologie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig, Berit Lange, dem Deutschen ...

08.10.2026

Deutsches Ärzteblatt

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