My time in @martinsteinegger.bsky.social's group is ending, but I’m staying in Korea to build a lab at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine. If you or someone you know is interested in molecular machine learning and open-source bioinformatics, please reach out. I am hiring! mirdita.org

Think outside the box and address the most pressing challenges in infection research with us!🧑‍🔬 We're offering 10 PhD positions at five HZI sites across Germany. 👉Don’t miss out—apply by February 28, 2026 and contribute to shaping the future of infection research jobs.helmholtz-hzi.de/job/Braunsch...

I’m thrilled to share our work on phage triggers of the bacterial immune system in its final form @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Happy to share our recent preprint: "DNA-intercalating antiphage molecules trigger abortive infection through mutual destruction and synergize with bacterial immunity" www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6... @spp2330.bsky.social, @mibinet.bsky.social, @dfg.de @hhu.de @fzj.bsky.social

#microsky #phagesky #phage defence www.cell.com/cell-reports...

3′UTR-derived small RNA couples acid resistance to metabolic reprogramming of Salmonella within macrophages url: academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

Phages go persistent, what does it mean for phage therapy and how can this special feature be leveraged? Take a look at the work of @emggroupucph.bsky.social, to which we contributed @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social: www.nature.com/articles/s41... N&V www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Bakterielle Infektionen können uns krank machen oder sogar zum Tod führen. Zudem wirken Antibiotika durch zunehmende Resistenzen immer schlechter. @quarkswdr.bsky.social zeigt, wie rasant sich Bakterien vermehren & welche Rolle #Antibiotikaresistenzen dabei spielen. www.quarks.de/gesundheit/m...

Phages are full of genes of unknown function that are likely adaptive in specific conditions. New preprint: Phage TnSeq identifies essential genes rapidly and knocks all non-essentials. We would like to send a pool of phiKZ mutants to anyone wanting it! Reach out tinyurl.com/bdcfrejh

📢 We have multiple open PhD positions to study bacterial immune systems using cutting-edge cryo-EM, microbiology, and biochemistry in our group! Join us and uncover how bacterial defenses eliminate predators and engineer next-gen biotech tools. 🔥 Apply by Jan 8, 2026 Details: phd.pages.ista.ac.at

Impact of Small RNA Sponges on Regulatory RNA Networks in Bacteria #microsky www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Von Biotechnologie bis Pandemiebewältigung: Heute feierten wir mit Partnern, Alumni & Gästen aus Wissenschaft, Politik & Wirtschaft #HZI60. Zu den Gratulant:innen zählten u.a. Nds. Ministerpräsident Olaf Lies, Martin Keller @helmholtz.de & Otmar D. Wiestler. www.helmholtz-hzi.de/media-center...

Angesichts zunehmender #Antibiotikaresistenzen können #Phagen ein vielversprechender Therapieansatz sein, so @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social. Mehr über das Potenzial von #Bakteriophagen erfahrt ihr hier: www.helmholtz-hzi.de/media-center... #WAAW2025 #Weltantibiotikawoche

The HZI is seeking new junior group leaders for its HUMAN program: If you’re passionate about infection biology, data science, or #AI driven health research, this is your chance to lead your own team. 🧬 Deadline: November 26 www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/career/jo... www.helmholtz-hzi.de/en/career/jo...

🚨Preprint alert - this is a big one! We transfer the revolutionary power of TnSeq to bacteriophages. Our HIDEN-SEQ links the "dark matter" genes of your favorite phage to any selectable phenotype, guiding the path from fun observations to molecular mechanisms. A thread 1/8

Große Phagen, kleine Phagen, Phagen aus Primatenkot... 💩Die Forschenden am @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social, @helmholtz-hioh.bsky.social & HZI gehen in ihrer Bakteriophagen-Forschung an die Grenzen! @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @jenshoer.bsky.social @gerovac.bsky.social @jangogarten.bsky.social #WAAW2025

Immer mehr Bakterien werden resistent & #Antibiotika stoßen an Grenzen. Zur #Weltantibiotikawoche zeigen unsere Forschenden, dass Hoffnung in einem uralten biologischen Prinzip liegen könnte: #Bakteriophagen - #Viren, die gezielt Bakterien angreifen. #WAAW2025 www.helmholtz-hzi.de/media-center...

Can we leverage bacterial competition for targeted replacement of harmful strains? Maybe! Our recent piece in @natmicrobiol.nature.com provides a theoretical framework and a set of experiments to show what it might take: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

After 5 years of waiting, the new #CRISPR classification by Makarova et al. is out @natmicrobiol.nature.com www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Growth-coupled microbial biosynthesis of the animal pigment xanthommatin — Led by Leah Bushin, featuring M. Gracia Alvan, @danielvolke.bsky.social @oscarpuiggene.bsky.social in a fantastic collaboration w/Brad Moore @labnikel.bsky.social @natbiotech.nature.com 🦑 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Use antisense oligomers to silence phage genes and discover new biology. @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de print: www.nature.com/articles/s41... highlight: www.nature.com/articles/s41... briefing: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Proud to be part of this incredible multidisciplinary team uncovering why some people are NOT infected by Salmonella. This new Wellcome Trust @wellcometrust.bsky.social funding will allow us to uncover why some people naturally resist infection and colonisation by Salmonella Typhimurium.

Cool work by @microberna.bsky.social & Kai Papenfort, presenting the first RNA-RNA map in C. crescentus using RIL-seq, revealing an RNA sponge that controls the transition from nutrient abundance to starvation; new insights into RNA networks and stress responses! #RNA www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#phage #phagesky

One transcript, two functions: the emerging roles of dual-function RNAs microLIFE review by @lizmarialuke.bsky.social and Kai Papenfort at @uni-jena.de academic.oup.com/microlife/ad...

How to become a "hot RNA" 🌡️? The answers were kindly provided by hyperthermophilic archaea: rRNA modifications are key! Check out this new publication presenting pan-modification profiling of the epitranscriptome. www.cell.com/cell/fulltex.... (1/3)

Excited to share our new @narjournal.bsky.social paper! Using ReLo and AlphaFold, we described a network of interactions between Drosophila piRNA pathway factors suggesting new links how they coordinate to ensure transposon silencing and genome integrity. academic.oup.com/nar/article/...

1/10 Genome maintenance by telomerase is a fundamental process in nearly all eukaryotes. But where does it come from? Today, we report the discovery of telomerase homologs in a family of antiviral RTs, revealing an unexpected evolutionary origin in bacteria. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

Very excited to share the latest work from our lab, which was published today in Nature! nature.com/articles/s41... PhD graduate and now post-doc Sofia Dahlman, along with co-senior author Sam Forster from The Hudson and other researchers from our lab and others.

Unsere stärkste Waffe gegen #Infektionskrankheiten stumpft ab: #Antibiotikaresistenzen stellen auch die Forschung am HZI vor große Herausforderungen, wie Mark Brönstrup und @schauflerlab.org @helmholtz-hioh.bsky.social in einer Doku von @artefr.bsky.social erklären. www.arte.tv/de/videos/12...

Check out our preprint! With new molecular mechanisms, 140 subtomogram averages, and ~600 annotated cells under different conditions, we @embl.org were able to describe bacterial populations with in-cell #cryoET. And there’s a surprise at the end 🕵️ www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... #teamtomo

#Viren sind mehr als nur Krankheitserreger: @quarkswdr.bsky.social zeigt, wie Viren seit Milliarden von Jahren die Evolution beeinflussen, unser Erbgut geprägt haben & heute als Grundlage für #Impfstoffe oder alternative Therapieformen genutzt werden können. www.ardmediathek.de/video/Y3JpZD...

Two group leader positions available in the broader areas of RNA science, RNA technologies, and RNA medicine. Attractive packages and a great environment. Come and join us at Helmholtz RNA Würzburg, Bavaria.

Please RT: We have an opening for a junior group leader position in „Phage Biology & Biotechnology“. www.fz-juelich.de/de/karriere/... Interested candidates are encouraged to contact me via email for further details. @spp2330.bsky.social; @mibinet.bsky.social

DYK most P. aeruginosa carry filamentous phage(s) that don't need to kill the cell to reproduce? We 👉🏻@nanamikubota.bsky.social show that these Pf phages can go ROGUE. "Filamentous cheater phages drive bacterial and phage populations to lower fitness" 🔗 authors.elsevier.com/c/1lt5I3QW8S...

Viral AlphaFold Database (VAD) is live in Science Advances ~27,000 predicted viral protein monomers & homodimers Conserved folds across bacteria, archaea & eukaryotic viruses New toxin–antitoxin system KreTA uncovered Vast “functional darkness” remains uncharted www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Today in @nature.com , we highlight how a cousin of CRISPR-Cas10, mCpol, establishes an evolutionary trap in anti-phage immune systems. Check out @erinedoherty.bsky.social and my work from @doudna-lab.bsky.social lab here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

*New preprint* #phage #phagesky This is a cool effort lead by Fangchao, Arkin lab, to test a new tech to study phage-host interaction mechanism at scale, in a droplet! We benchmarked it by using a set of 2 classical coli phages to identify their receptors, impt for generatin data for AI/ML models

Wir freuen uns, drei weitere Nachswuchsgruppenleiter:innen in unserem HUMAN-Programm zu begrüßen! 🎉 Christiane Iserman, Jakob Wirbel und Sampurna Chakrabarti @amapruns.bsky.social nehmen heute die Arbeit in ihren neuen Gruppen auf. Herzlich willkommen am HZI und alles Gute!

Wir haben ein Krise von Antibiotika-Resistenzen. Dennoch werden Bakteriophagen - eine Virus-Art, die Bakterien abtöten kann - kaum als alternative Therapieform eingesetzt. Warum? Das erklärt ETH-Forscher Alexander Harms im Interview. (@aharms485.bsky.social) ethz.ch/de/news-und-...

You’ve heard of ubiquitination, meet deazaguanylation: Doug Wassarman in our lab discovered phage defense pathways have co-opted Q nucleobase biosynthetic enzymes to catalyze a new form of protein conjugation chemistry @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

Am HZI-Standort @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social werden die Grundlagen für neuartige RNA-Therapien erforscht. Heute wurde das Richtfest für den mehr als 10.000 Quadratmeter großen HIRI-Neubau auf dem Medizincampus der @uni-wuerzburg.de gefeiert. 📷HIRI / Mario Schmitt www.helmholtz-hzi.de/media-center...

Excited to annouce the latest research published by our lab, which is led by Dinesh Subedi and is out today in Nature Microbiology. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

You like phages ? In this publication, we use metaHiC and our new version of the MetaTOR pipeline to challenge the traditional view of phages with a narrow host range. @rkoszul.bsky.social @natmicrobiol.nature.com @cnrs.fr @institutpasteur.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Recent study in @natbiotech.nature.com: A team led by #HIRI’s Beisel lab introduced a new way to fine-tune genetic material. They describe an innovative technique where chemical tags are attached directly to DNA, opening new possibilities in medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology. ➡️ rdcu.be/eG4fk

No Genetics? Try ASOs – A non-genetic approach to silence genes at the phage-host interface. We use it to study jumbo phage biology and anti-phage defence. @jorg-vogel-lab.bsky.social @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social @uni-wuerzburg.de @helmholtzhzi.bsky.social published now in @nature.com

Es war uns eine große Ehre, Yasmine Belkaid, Präsidentin des @pasteur.fr, heute am HZI begrüßen zu dürfen. Vielen Dank für die wertvollen wissenschaftlichen Diskussionen und den inspirierenden Vortrag über die Immunität gegenüber der Mikrobiota und die Auswirkungen auf die Impfstoffentwicklung.

RNA-basierte Medizin hat das Potenzial viele Krankheiten zu heilen. Am @helmholtz-hiri.bsky.social arbeiten Forscher:innen unter anderem an programmierbaren #Antibiotika und diagnostischen Werkzeugen auf RNA-Basis. Mehr dazu findet ihr in unserem Wissensportal. www.helmholtz-hzi.de/wissen/wisse...

If you want to do single-cell RNA-seq on your favourite bacterium, here‘s our detailed Nature Protocol for microbial MATQ-seq. It profiles up to 600 genes in a single bacterial cell! www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The EMBO workshop on the Immune System of Bacteria just started in sunny Paris in the Institut Pasteur. So excited for three days of awesome science.