Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology
Hans Knöll Institute

Microbial natural products serving as mediators of biological communication are essential for our lives. They do, however, play an ambivalent role: on the one hand, they contribute to the generation of many infectious diseases; on the other hand, they belong to the most important sources provided in drugs such as antibiotics.

Researchers at the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute (HKI) – in Jena investigate the communication between microorganisms to be able to make use of the acquired know-how to develop innovative components for the diagnosis and therapy of diseases. By means of implementing those research results and the derived models thereof, the HKI contributes to the development of the systems biology of an infection.