Chemical Biology

News

• 2023-01-23

  Disarming pathogens: New drug candidates to combat chronic infections

  

  Although bacteria are among the simplest life forms on our planet, in the course of evolution they have developed ways to communicate efficiently with each other. Unlike humans, their communication is not mediated with words but with chemical signals. This interaction also plays a fundamental role in infection processes of pathogenic bacteria in humans. For example, bacteria…

• 2023-01-16

  Sugar-based inhibitors disarm the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa

  

   Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium that belongs to the group of highly antibiotic-resistant and clinically relevant ESKAPE pathogens. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is one of the critical priority pathogens because it is often resistant to antibiotics and lacks treatment options. P. aeruginosa produces two lectins, LecA and LecB, which it…

• 2022-12-14

  Moonlighting protein makes a hospital germ harmful

  

  In our interview, Wulf Blankenfeldt explains what makes the Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium so dangerous, why he has never lost interest in the function of PqsE for over two decades - and how he was able to report the moonlighting of this protein. Professor Blankenfeldt, where can one get infected with Pseudomonas aeruginosa and who is at a particular risk? Wulf Blankenfeldt: You…

Bachelor, Master and PhD Theses

• 2022-01-01
  Hauptsitz Braunschweig

  Bachelor- and Master Theses

  The Department of Chemical Biology at the HZI offers to interested and engaged chemistry, pharmacy, biology, biochemistry and biotechnology students on a regular basis: - Internship Positions (max. 3 months) - Bachelor- and Master Theses The centre provides modern laboratories and state-of-the-art instrumentation, various biological profiling platforms, a lively scientific environment and programs for the development of interdisciplinary scientific expertise as well as personal skills, which are ideal prerequisities for a successfull future carrier.

• 15.05.2023, 11 am - 16.05.2023, 4 pm - Talk - Scientific

  HDDC 2023

Video

• Epothilon: Ein HZI-Molekül wird zum Krebsmedikament

  Wissenschaftler an der ehemaligen Gesellschaft für Biotechnologische Forschung (GBF), dem heutigen HZI, haben in den 1980er Jahren Epothilon B entdeckt. Dieser Naturstoff stört die Teilung von Krebszellen: Tumore werden durch ihn im Wachstum gebremst, schrumpfen und verschwinden. Das Pharmaunternehmen Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) hat jetzt auf der Basis von Epothilon B ein Krebsmedikament auf den US-amerikanischen Markt gebracht. Seine Entwicklung ist so spannend wie ein Krimi...
  Länge: 11:34

• Molecular Trojan Horses Visualize Infections

  Researchers from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) recently developed molecular probes that utilise the iron transport system of bacteria to transport antibacterial agents into the bacterial cell. These "molecular Trojan horses" can also carry fluorescence markers and thus make infections in smaller animals visible and amenable to treatment. Kevin Ferreira explains here the new developed method in a minute.

• 1 cure for ALL viruses? 6 new research teams in the challenge by the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovations [Video in German]

  Six research teams have entered the second phase of the SPRIND Challenge "A Quantum Leap for New Antiviral Agents" with their approach to developing new antiviral agents. Scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research are involved in three of the funded projects. YouTuber Jacob Beautemps introduces the teams.

• How do researchers at the HZI and HIPS develop a new antibiotic?

Audio Podcast

• Kleine Moleküle ganz groß – Mit Naturstoffen gegen Hepatitis CMit weltweit 130 Millionen Infizierten ist Hepatitis C eine der häufigsten Infektionskrankheiten. Die Therapien, die es derzeit gibt, sind langwierig, haben starke Nebenwirkungen und helfen nicht jedem Patienten. Florenz Sasse vom Braunschweiger Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung und Thomas Pietschmann vom TWINCORE in Hannover suchen gemeinsam nach neuen Wirkstoffen gegen das Hepatitis C-Virus. Hören Sie hier von ihren ersten Treffern und folgen Sie Florenz Sasse zu einer Bibliothek der anderen Art…