Hoffmann, Jules Alphonse (1941-…), a Luxembourg-born biologist, won a share of the 2011 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for his discovery of a gene critical to the immune system. Hoffmann shared the prize with the American biologist Bruce A. Beutler and the Canadian-born scientist Ralph M. Steinman, who also won for discoveries concerning the immune system.
Hoffmann developed an interest in entomology (the study of insects) as a child. In his later professional research, he studied the immune system of insects, such as fruit flies. He discovered the role of an important gene that activates the innate (inborn) immune system in fruit flies. The innate immune system, which is present in all animals, helps recognize and destroy bacteria and viruses invading the body. When the gene was inactivated, the insects’ immune systems failed to defend against such infections. Hoffmann’s work has important applications in the development of drugs to treat autoimmune diseases. In such diseases, the immune system incorrectly attacks the body’s own tissues.
Hoffmann was born on Aug. 2, 1941, in Echternach, Luxembourg. He studied at the University of Strasbourg in France, where he received his Ph.D. degree in biology in 1969. He began work as a research assistant at the French National Research Agency (known by the French abbreviation CNRS) in 1964. He has held many different positions at CNRS. He is also a professor at the University of Strasbourg. In 2007 and 2008, he served as president of the French National Academy of Sciences.
See also Beutler, Bruce Alan ; Steinman, Ralph Marvin .
