Welcome to the Helfrich lab

We at the Helfrich Lab are part of the Institute of Molecular Bioscience at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany and the LOEWE Center for Translational Biodiversity Genomics. Our interdisciplinary team at the Helfrich Lab works at the interface of bioinformatics, microbiology, molecular biology, chemical ecology, synthetic biology, analytical and organic chemistry. At the Helfrich Lab, we develop tools and workflows for the identification of novel bioactive metabolites from a wide variety of bacterial phyla and diverse ecological niches. In addition, the Helfrich Lab is interested in deciphering the genetic blueprints that govern their biosynthesis and aims at understanding the role of the identified natural products in their native environment.

Our technologies & platforms

Natural Product Biosynthesis

We study the biosynthesis of unusual natural products and decipher universal biosynthetic principles that can be used to identify other members of the natural product class/family.

Genome Mining

We decipher biosynthetic principles for poorly studied classes/families of natural products and develop bioinformatic platforms for the annotation of natural product biosynthetic pathways and the prediction of the structures of the associated metabolites based on genome sequence information.

Chemical Ecology

We study ecological niches that are likely shaped by the production of natural products with a particular bioactivity and use a hypothesis-driven, function-first approach for the targeted identification of these metabolites.

Learn more about our technologies

Open positions

We are constantly looking for talented scientists at all levels to join our team.

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Our latest publications

The role and mechanisms of canonical and non-canonical tailoring enzymes in bacterial terpenoid biosynthesis | Natural Product Reports | 2025

MIBiG 4.0: advancing biosynthetic gene cluster curation through global collaboration | Nucleic Acids Res. | 2025

Exploration, expansion and definition of the atropopeptide family of ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides | Chemical Science | 2024

Our partners & collaborators