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17.11.2025 11:40

World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week: The search for new weapons against bacterial infections

Dr. Charlotte Schwenner Presse und Kommunikation
Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung

Researchers at the HZI, HIRI and HIOH explore molecular mechanisms and the therapeutic potential of bacteriophages

Since the middle of the 20th century, antibiotics have been among the greatest successes in medicine. They save millions of lives every year, prevent complications during operations and make many therapies possible in the first place. But their success has a downside: More and more bacteria are developing strategies to evade the attacks of these drugs. Resistant germs are spreading around the globe, against which hardly any drugs are effective. With the annual World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW) from 18 to 24 November, the World Health Organization reminds us how important it is to use antibiotics carefully and how urgently new approaches are needed to continue fighting infections effectively in the future. Almost 20 research groups in the research topic “Novel Anti-Infectives” at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) are developing new drugs against infectious diseases.

Scientists at the HZI and its sites in Würzburg and Greifswald are exploring an additional strategy against bacterial infections: they are studying the therapeutic potential of bacteriophages, or phages for short. These are viruses of microbes. They precisely recognize their host cells, inject their genetic material and replicate in them until the bacterial cell bursts and releases new phages. Phages are harmless to humans as they do not replicate in human cells. They are found in unimaginable numbers in bodies of water, in the soil and even in our intestines and replicate in the bacteria living there. They have been keeping bacterial populations in balance for many millions of years. Scientists at the HZI, the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) and the Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) are specifically investigating this ancient biological interplay in order to develop new therapies. HIRI and HIOH are sites of the HZI in cooperation with the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and partner institutions in Greifswald, respectively.

Bacteriophages have a huge repertoire of functions to take control of their host bacterium. “We need to move away from assessing bacteriophages and their efficacy against bacteria only under model conditions,” says Dr. Milan Gerovac, head of the junior research group “Complexes in Phage-infected Cells” in the HZI's MICROSTAR program. “An infection creates stress for the bacteria and for the phages. We also reproduce these stress conditions in our research in order investigate the function of as many factors as possible that we do not yet understand.” He is focusing on the group of jumbo phages, whose genome is made up of DNA and comprises several hundred genes.

To better study the large genome of jumbo phages, Gerovac developed an innovative RNA technology as a postdoctoral researcher under Prof. Jörg Vogel, enabling specific intervention in phage development. This allowed the researchers to systematically switch off a wide variety of phage proteins in a jumbo phage of the hospital germ Pseudomonas aeruginosa and thus identify proteins central to its development. Vogel is Managing Director of the HIRI and heads the HIRI department “RNA Biology of Bacterial Infections”. He has high hopes for phage research: “If we succeed in harnessing the potential of phages for therapeutic purposes, this would be a promising new approach, especially in light of increasing antibiotic resistance.”

A completely different group of bacteriophages is the focus of research by Jun. Prof. Jens Hör at the HIRI: RNA phages. “Their genetic material consists of RNA, which makes them fundamentally different from DNA phages. For example, it allows RNA phages to escape the bacterial immune system CRISPR-Cas, which can recognize and cut DNA sequences,” says Hör. He heads the junior research group “Molecular Principles of RNA phages”. With a recently acquired ERC Starting Grant, he is investigating the basic mechanisms of how RNA phages efficiently control their replication, which host factors they utilize during this process and how bacteria defend themselves against the infection. “On the one hand, understanding these mechanisms is a prerequisite for the use of RNA phages as therapeutics. On the other hand, it opens up the possibility of discovering completely novel biotechnological tools,” says Hör.

Many research teams around the world are using wastewater to search for new phages that are effective against pathogens. Dr. Jan Gogarten, head of the junior research group “Evolutionary Community Ecology” at the HIOH, however, is using a very special source in his search for new phages: the feces of non-human primates. Wild primates have a more diverse microbiome than humans, especially those with a Western lifestyle. As a result, their phage community is also more diverse. “This diversity could represent an untapped resource for phage therapy. In particular, we hope to identify phages with a broader host range that are still relevant to the bacteria that infect humans,” says Gogarten. Bacteriophages could also serve as an indicator of where contact between humans and wild animals takes place. The resulting transmission of microorganisms is also a danger for wild animals, whose populations can be endangered by human pathogens. Additionally, it poses a risk to global health as new zoonoses can emerge.

Even though bacteriophages have great therapeutic and biotechnological potential, they will not be able to solve the antimicrobial resistance crisis on their own. “The problem with bacteriophages is production. With antibiotics, once research and development are complete, we can mold the active ingredient into a product that can be manufactured millions of times over. Phage therapy is much more individual. Depending on the germ, individual phages or phage cocktails are required,” says Prof. Mark Brönstrup, head of the department “Chemical Biology" at the HZI. Bacteriophages will therefore not be able to completely replace antibiotics in the long term. However, through systematic research such as that being conducted at the HZI, they can become a complementary weapon in the arsenal against bacterial infections.

Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research:
The Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) is the first institution of its kind worldwide to combine ribonucleic acid (RNA) research with infection biology. Based on novel findings from its strong basic research program, the institute’s long-term goal is to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to better diagnose and treat human infections. HIRI is a site of the Braunschweig Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in cooperation with the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg (JMU) and is located on the Würzburg Medical Campus. More information at https://www.helmholtz-hiri.de

Helmholtz Institute for One Health:
The Helmholtz Institute for One Health (HIOH) is dedicated to interdisciplinary research on the interrelationships between human, animal and environmental health. HIOH’s goal is a better understanding of zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and the evolution of pathogens as a prerequisite for successful pandemic preparedness and prevention. In accordance with the One Health approach, according to which the health of humans, animals and environment is to be regarded as an inseparable whole, HIOH unites a variety of scientific disciplines and research foci under one roof. https://www.helmholtz-hioh.de/en

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research:
Scientists at the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Braunschweig and its other sites in Germany are engaged in the study of bacterial and viral infections and the body’s defense mechanisms. They have a profound expertise in natural compound research and its exploitation as a valuable source for novel anti-infectives. As member of the Helmholtz Association and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) the HZI performs translational research laying the ground for the development of new treatments and vaccines against infectious diseases. https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en

Contact:
Susanne Thiele, Spokesperson
susanne.thiele@helmholtz-hzi.de
Dr Charlotte Schwenner, Editor
charlotte.schwenner@helmholtz-hzi.de

Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research
Press and Communications
Inhoffenstr. 7
D-38124 Braunschweig
Germany
Phone: +49 531 6181-1400; -1406

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Weitere Informationen:

https://www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/media-center/newsroom/news-detail/world-antimicr... Press release on the HZI website
https://infacthzi.podigee.io/34-phages-bacteria-eaters-against-dangerous-infecti...: HZI podcast InFact with Jens Hör: Phages – “bacteria eaters” against dangerous infections

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Scanning electron micrograph of an Escherichia coli cell (red) infected by bacteriophages (green).
Quelle: Mathias Müsken
Copyright: HZI/Mathias Müsken

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Electron micrograph of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infected by the jumbo phage ΦKZ (red).
Quelle: Mathias Müsken
Copyright: HZI/Mathias Müsken

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