Jun Prof Jens Hör

Our research and approach

The research group led by Jens Hör investigates the dynamics of infection, host takeover, and anti-phage defense during the interaction between RNA phages and their hosts. They seek to understand the molecular principles underlying these processes to develop new and improved antibacterial strategies such as phage therapy.

The emerging crisis of antibiotic-resistant bacteria demands the development of novel treatment options for bacterial infections. Phages as the natural predators of bacteria can be exploited to support this process. However, for this, it is crucial to have suitable phages at hand and understand how they function. RNA phages, unlike DNA phages, are heavily understudied. Their characterization will help to unfold the full potential of phages in the design of novel antimicrobial therapies and offers the opportunity to yield new molecular tools and technologies.

Jens Hör’s group works on the molecular principles of RNA phages in the context of phage-host interactions. They seek to understand how RNA phages take over their hosts during infection and how the hosts defend themselves against the invading phages. In addition, they isolate and functionally characterize new RNA phages.

The group employs classical biochemistry and molecular biology methods as well as state-of-the-art high-throughput methods to analyze the unique lifestyle of RNA phages in concert with their host. Their overall goal is to advance our understanding of RNA phages and how they can be exploited to develop novel antibacterial strategies.

Team members

Jun Prof Jens Hör

Group Leader

Aatreyi Roy

PhD Student

Sarah Reichardt

Technical Assistant

Research projects

Catch a Virus by Its Tail

Phages, viruses that attack bacteria, have a head and a tail. The head contains the phage’s genetic material and the tail is used to identify a potential host, that is, a bacterial cell into which it can inject this material. Once the injection is complete, the phage hijacks the bacterium’s cellular machinery and forces it to produce new copies of itself, which ultimately burst the cell and infect other bacteria in the colony. In the journal Nature, Jens Hör and colleagues from the Weizmann Institute of Science describe a bacterial immune system that thwarts the phages’ plot by attaching a small protein to their tails. The components of this new immune system are similar in structure to a human immunity mechanism, and they might help reveal how this mechanism works and how our own immune system has evolved.

Phages, viruses that attack bacteria, have a head and a tail. Image: Jens Hör