help + gerund

Hello, I know I have maybe a silly question, but as I am not an English professor I would like to hear your opinion and to confirm my thoughts on this subject.
This is the sentence that I am reading and it sounds wrong to me, or the meaning is lost,
This will likely help clarifying mechanisms of autoimmunity in general.

I read this as that something will help mechanisms and not to clarify them as one would think? Am I wrong?
I would write it like this,

This will likely help (to) clarify mechanisms of autoimmunity in general.

Thanks.

1. This will likely help in clarifying mechanisms of autoimmunity in general.


2. This will likely help to clarify mechanisms of autoimmunity in general.

Which is preferred depends on the context.

Hello, thank you , but what is the difference in the meaning of 2 phrases? Or in general, what would be the difference if I would say, "help to clarify" or "help in clarifying" , what about "help clarify" it is not correct in this case or is not to your likeing?

Thanks

We leave out words, particularly in speaking, when the meaning is preserved.
However, in formal writing, it is better to write it in full.

So - yes, you could say 'help clarify'.

I wrote 'help to clarify' because "mechanisms of autoimmunity in general" is something that seemed more likely to be written in a formal (scientific) report.

What is the difference in the meaning of the two phrases?

Let's throw that open for discussion!