Professor Jules Hoffmann gave a lecture titled "Innate Immunity: from Insects to Man" at the Yuquanlu campus of UCAS in the afternoon of 13 June. Prof. WU Yueliang, Vice President of UCAS, presented a Certificate of a UCAS Honorary Professorship to Prof. Hoffmann.
This lecture is one of the series of academic activities commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-France diplomatic ties.
The speech concerned recent findings about the cellular and molecular mechanisms of innate immunity and showed that they appeared in the first multi-cellular organisms about 1 billion years ago and have been largely preserved since then. In addition to being the first line of antimicrobial defense in mammals, innate immunity is also critical for activating adaptive immunity, a feature examplified by the need to use adjuvant invaccination.
Over 100 students and faculty members from the College of Life Science, the Sino-Danish College and other institutes attended the meeting. Prof. Hoffmann's remarks were greeted with warm applause. After the speech, there was a mini-salon during which the students, faculty members and Prof. Hoffmann exchanged their ideas.
Professor Jules Hoffmann, Former President of the French National Academy of Sciences (2007-2008), is currently the Emeritus Distinguished Class Research Director at CNRS and Group Leader, Chair of Integrative Biology, Professor at University of Strasbourg Institute for Advanced Study. Hoffmann and Bruce Beutler were jointly awarded a half share of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for "their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity".
(Written by Wu Xuan)
