Jules A. Hoffmann
Alphonse Jules Hoffmann ( born August 2, 1941 in Echternach, Luxembourg ) is a French biologist Luxembourgish descent and Professor at the University of Strasbourg. In 2011 he received together with Bruce Beutler and Ralph M. Steinman the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Life and work
Hoffmann grew up in Luxembourg. He completed his schooling at the Lycée de Garçons de Luxembourg. From 1961 he studied at the University of Strasbourg biology and chemistry and acquired in 1969 by Pierre Joly a Doctor of Science ( docteur ès sciences ). Since 1964, Hoffmann was also a research assistant at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS ) in Strasbourg, from 1974 as director of research.
Hoffmann dealt with insects and their hormones. As a postdoctoral fellow he went to Peter Karlson at the Philipps- University of Marburg. In 1978 Hoffmann in succession by Joly Professor of Zoology and General Biology in Strasbourg. He conducted research in particular for metabolic conversion of the hormone ecdysone and the defense system of flies, especially the anti-infectives, which are synthesized by flies and which are activated in part by a protein called Toll. In humans there are similar proteins called Toll-like Receptors and can "self" and " non-self " play an important role in distinguishing between the immune system and bind endotoxins.
In 1978, Hoffmann at the CNRS, the Chairman of the Working Group "Immune Response and Development in Insects ". 1994 Hoffmann was director of the Institute for Molecular and Cellular Biology of the CNRS, which is located on the campus of the University of Strasbourg. He remained in this position until 2005. Hoffmann was 2005/2006 and 2007/ 2008 President of the French Academy of Sciences, which he is a member since 1992.
In 2011 he received together with Bruce Beutler and Ralph M. Steinman the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. This was an acknowledgment of Hoffmann and Beutler's discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.
Hoffmann is married and has two children. Since 1970 he has French nationality.