Viruses have coexisted with mankind for a long time. The oldest genetic evidence of a viral disease shows that people already suffered from liver inflammation caused by hepatitis B viruses about 7,000 years ago. The...
As part of the adaptive immune system, T cells are involved in the defence against pathogens. However, if they recognise healthy, self-structures instead of invading pathogens, autoimmune diseases can result. It is...
A group of scientists are calling for a pan-European coronavirus action plan. Given the high numbers of cases and the new variants, they say, greater efforts to contain the virus are required across the whole continent....
A huge community of microorganisms lives on and in our body – the microbiota. It is often also referred to as the microbiome, although the term microbiome actually describes the genetic information of the microbiota....
Pathogenic bacteria are armed with a large arsenal of molecular weapons that help them infect their hosts. These virulence factors enable the bacteria to gain access to nutrients, to establish a niche for survival or...
Currently, high numbers of infections with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 are being recorded in many European countries. This leads to increased numbers of deaths and is a burden for society, health systems and the economy....
SARS-CoV-2 infections pose a global threat to human health and a formidable research challenge. One of the most urgent tasks is to gain a detailed understanding of the molecular interactions between the virus and the...
Prof Rolf Müller, Managing Director of the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), has been awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize 2021 by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for his...
