ERC Starting Grant PEPHI: permanent phage infections (Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung)

PEPHI (Permanent Phage Infections), an ERC Starting Grant project coordinated by Helmholtz-Zentrum für Infektionsforschung in Germany, runs from 1 March 2027 to 29 February 2032 with an EU contribution of €1,499,982. It tests whether nucleus-forming phages can replicate in step with their host without lysis, a permanent replication cycle that may help explain why chronic infections resist clearance, and aims to engineer phages that bypass it.