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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
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
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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
 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
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
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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 in the media

die Bundibugyo-Virusvariante entsteht. Forschende des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung hatten unlängst Hinweise gefunden , dass

07.10.2026
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Medscape

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

07.10.2026
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ZDFheute

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

07.10.2026
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Der Tagesspiegel

in predictable ways. A new study from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig now shows that this picture is far

07.10.2026
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Scienmag Science Magazine

... nicht isoliert wirken. Wie Forschende des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) gemeinsam mit Teams der Universität ...

06.10.2026
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Ad Hoc News

Recent research conducted by the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research (HZI) in collaboration with the European Molecular Biology

06.10.2026
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Life Technology™

Technische Universität Braunschweig, das HZI – Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Braunschweig sowie die Medizinische Hochschule ...

04.10.2026
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schleswig-holstein.de

the Institute of Science and Technology Austria and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig, Germany. Their combined

04.10.2026
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Scienmag Science Magazine

... die klinische Validität. Ein Forschungsteam des Helmholtz-Zentrums für Infektionsforschung (HZI) hat mit „Metax“ nun einen ...

02.10.2026
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Analytik.de

Mikrobiologen auch Kolleg*innen vom IST Austria und dem HZI in Braunschweig gehören: Inhibitoren von Aktin unterbinden diese dynamischen

01.10.2026
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Science.apa.at

... der Medizinischen Hochschule Hannover sowie am Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung tätig ist. Als Co-Autor ist zudem ...

30.09.2026
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Ad Hoc News

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

30.09.2026
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Phys.org

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