SARS-CoV-2 / COVID-19
Since the end of 2019, a novel virus that can cause respiratory diseases and pneumonia has been spreading worldwide. The pathogen SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronavirus family and is closely related to the SARS virus, which caused a pandemic in 2002. Here we will keep you informed about current developments in research and provide answers to the most important questions.

The scientists at the HZI conduct research on numerous aspects of SARS-CoV-2 and the pandemic. They publish their results in high-ranking scientific journals. Here you will find a selection of the research results:
- Berit Lange, Veronika K. Jaeger, Manuela Harries et al. Estimates of protection levels against SARS-CoV-2 infection and severe COVID-19 in Germany before the 2022/2023 winter season: the IMMUNEBRIDGE project. Infection. August 2023. DOI: 10.1007/s15010-023-02071-2
- Lena Keller, Emilia Oueis, Amninder Kaur et al. Persicamidines — Unprecedented Sesquarterpenoids with Potent Antiviral Bioactivity against Coronaviruses. Angewandte Chemie International Edition. February 2023. DOI: 10.1002/anie.202214595
- Mario Ynga-Durand*, Henrike Maaß*, Marko Milošević et al. SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in the Pulmonary Compartment of Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients Correlates with Viral Serum Load and Fatal Outcomes. Viruses. June 2022. DOI: 10.3390/v14061292 (* contributed equally)
- Yeonsu Kim, Xiaoyan Zheng, Kathrin Eschke et al. MCMV based vaccine vectors expressing full-length viral proteins provide long-term humoral immune protection upon a single-shot vaccination. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. January 2022. DOI: 10.1038/s41423-021-00814-5
- Matthias Zimmer, Anuja Kibe, Ulfert Rand et al. The short isoform of the host antiviral protein ZAP acts as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 programmed ribosomal frameshifting. Nature Communications, December 2021. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-27431-0
- Daniel Wendisch, Oliver Dietrich, Tommaso Mari et al. SARS-CoV-2 infection triggers profibrotic macrophage responses and lung fibrosis. Cell, December 2021, DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.11.033
- Daniela Gornyk, Manuela Harries, Stephan Glöckner et al. SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in Germany—a population-based sequential study in seven regions. Dtsch Arztebl Int, November 2021; 118. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.m2021.0364 (online first) https://www.aerzteblatt.de/archiv/221932
A complete list of peer-reviewed publications from the HZI on SARS-CoV-2 can be found in the database PubMed
Coronavirus
The coronaviruses are a family of viruses that includes a series of very different pathogens. These viruses usually infect mammals, rodents, and birds, but only few coronaviruses adapted to humans. They did this with great success: About one third of all typical "common colds" and some cases of diarrhoea as well are caused by these RNA Viruses, which are the largest of their kind. [more]
Interview
Dr Peggy Riese, scientist in the Department “Vaccinology and Applied Microbiology” at HZI, talks in an interview about current developments in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine research. [more]
Support
With your donation to the HZI you directly support innovative coronavirus research projects that contribute to solutions for the containment of the virus and the identification of possible therapies. [more]
Involved research groups
- Innate Immunity and Infection- Prof. Dr. Andrea Kröger
- Computational Biology for Infection Research - Prof. Dr. Alice McHardy
- Chemical Biology- Prof. Dr. Mark Brönstrup
- Single-cell Analysis- Dr. Antoine-Emmanuel Saliba
- Epidemiology- Dr. Berit Lange
- Experimental Infection Research- Prof. Dr. Ulrich Kalinke
- Immune Regulation- Prof. Dunja Bruder
- Biosafety Level 3 Laboratory- Dr. Kai Schulze
- Long non-coding RNA and Infection Biology- Jun. Prof. Dr. Mathias Munschauer
- Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration- Prof. Dr. Martin Korte
- Recoding Mechanisms in Infections- Jun. Prof. Dr. Neva Caliskan
- RNA Biology of bacterial infections- Prof. Jörg Vogel
- Systems Immunology- Prof. Dr. Michael Meyer-Hermann
- Vaccinology and applied Microbiology- Prof. Dr. Carlos A. Guzmán
- Viral Immunology- Prof. Dr. Dr. Luka Cicin-Sain
- Virology and Innate Immunity- Prof. Dr. Melanie Brinkmann