Learn about our community: spotlight on Dr. Bastian Seelbinder
Dr. Bastian Seelbinder joined the steering committee of the Leibniz PostDoc Network in May 2025 and coordinates the Infrastructure Working Group together with Dr. Maya Giridhar since then. Bastian currently works as a PostDoc in the Microbiome Dynamics department at Leibniz-HKI. He studied theoretical bioinformatics and applies his knowledge of multi-OMICs integration to the study of microbiomes in different human metabolic diseases as well as different environments.
Dr. Bastian Seelbinder
Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology – Hans Knöll Institute
Leibniz Section C
Department: Microbiome Dynamics
Profession: Theoretical bioinformatics on microbiome data
What particularly fascinates you about your research?
In day-to-day life, we find ourselves talking about ‘gut feelings’. Nowadays, there is a good amount of scientific enquiry into this. The gut microbiome, which I research, plays a crucial role in our overall health. Humans and their microbes evolved together and adapt to one another. For example, bacteria in our guts ferment indigestible fibers to produce short-chain fatty acids, which in turn have anti-inflammatory effects. However, dysbiotic gut bacteria communities can induce negative health effects or even chronic diseases. My work focuses on identifying and reversing these misadaptions. Understanding these mechanisms of this symbiosis will lead to new ways to understand ourselves, our health, and how to treat many diseases.
How is your work relevant for society?
Our institute has a strong focus on understanding human infections by pathogenic fungi. Fungal infections are particularly difficult to treat, and their occurrence is rising. Similar to how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics over time, fungi become resistant to antifungal drugs. We seek alternative ways of treatment. For example, microbes on the skin, the mouth, and in the gut work as an additional line of defense. This line of defense helps to (a) train our immune system to separate “good” from “bad”, and (b) could be modified relatively non-invasively through diet, probiotics, prebiotics, medical drugs, or even transplantation.
What would you change to improve the situation of postdocs in Germany?
One of the biggest problems I see is the time limit for working in institutes. Permanent positions are rare. It is hard enough to fight for funding and high-impact publications. Creating a more stable working path would reduce that strain and would also make it a more viable career choice for those seeking to start their own family. Furthermore, scientific research should not only be driven by visibility. Most of the revolutionary ideas of the past were highly debated or ignored at the time of their publication.
In your perfect research world, what would be different?
In a perfect research world, honest debates would be favored over story telling. In the current system, the life of a researcher is tightly bound to their performance – publish or perish. This results in major research bubbles, resisting major changes to established ideas. I wish for a world in which different scientific ideas can more honestly compete and be discussed without placing the lives of people on the line. Doing so would result in wasting less resources on “hyped” topics.
In this series, we showcase postdocs working on society-relevant research questions at Leibniz Institutes.
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