Eine Kamera ist auf eine reflektierende Glasscheibe gerichtet.
© DZIF

News

All current DZIF news can be found here.

Schematic representation of a liver (in brown-orange) surrounded by round virus particles and blood cells (in white-gray).
© bluebay 2024/AdobeStock

A promising investigational therapeutic monoclonal antibody to treat chronic hepatitis B and D infections

Affecting hundreds of millions of people, chronic hepatitis B is a widespread global health problem for which there is as yet no cure. In a preclinical study involving the German Center for Infection

Masernimpfvirus als Vektor
© PEI

Measles-based vector vaccine protects mice against influenza A (H7N9) virus

Researchers of the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (PEI) and Philipps-Universität Marburg used the "recombinant measles virus" vaccine platform to test vaccine

Several silver-coloured bioreactors with many connecting tubes and control screens used for fermentation and production of active agents.
© HZI/Prof. Dr. Marc Stadler

Clinical development of two antimicrobial agents funded by Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation

The Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation's ForTra gGmbH for Research Transfer—the largest medicine-funding foundation in Germany—supports the legally compliant production of new drug candidates for direct

Prof. Wedemeyer and Prof. Cornberg stand next to each other. Together they are holding a laboratory book in their hands. A laboratory can be seen in the background, slightly blurred.
© MHH/Karin Kaiser

New weapon against hepatitis D

In a multicentre phase 3 trial, researchers at the MHH have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of the drug Bulevirtide, which prevents Hepatitis D viruses from entering the liver.

Infection with

Illustration of a mouse surrounded by: Bacteria-containing capsules; red and green agar plates with bacterial colonies smeared out and test strips and platelets; DNA sequence comparison behind; and the words "Antibiotics", "Microbiome", and "Evolution".
© MvP-LMU/Bärbel Stecher

How the gut microbiome responds to antibiotics

Antibiotics affect the composition and dynamics of the gut microbiome. Treatment with antibiotics not only leads to a loss of biodiversity of microorganisms, but also often favours the selection of

Transmission electron microscopy image of spherical cytomegalovirus virions grown in tissue culture. The virions are digitally stained blue.
© CDC/Sylvia Whitfield

A virus lurking in the connective tissue

It was previously believed that herpesviruses use certain body cells to replicate and other body cells to remain dormant, that is to remain inactive for a longer period of time. This dogma is now

Coronavirus
© Fusion Medical Animation

Infection with common cold coronaviruses can trigger broad cross-immunity against SARS-CoV-2 proteins

Researchers at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf have demonstrated cross-reactive immune responses to another SARS-CoV-2 protein besides the spike protein. The research team found a

Schematic representation of two agar plates, each with a paper strip. On the left plate, an inhibition zone can be seen around the paper strip.
© Frantz R. et al., 2023/Renate Frantz

Targeting resistance to a crucial reserve antibiotic

Colistin is a last-line reserve antibiotic for the treatment of infections caused by extremely multidrug-resistant (XDR) Gram-negative bacteria. The recent emergence and global spread of the mobile

Victoria Ingham in the lab holding a suction flask full of Anopheles mosquitoes.
© Heidelberg University Hospital

DZIF malaria researcher gains funding

Dr. Victoria Ingham from Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) is investigating the potential dual effect of a new insecticide for mosquito nets. The

Electron micrograph of a cluster of rod-shaped bacterial cells in gray. 
© Universität Greifswald/Nicole Metzendorf, Rabea Schlüter 

New drug candidate found against persistent intestinal pathogens

Infections with the bacterium Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile for short) frequently recur due to permanent stages remaining in the intestine. A drug that also effectively combats the permanent