Geoffrey W. Hoffmann
Geoffrey W. Hoffmann | |
---|---|
Born | Australia | October 20, 1944
Nationality | Australian-Canadian |
Known for | Immune network theory |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Immune network theory |
Geoffrey W. Hoffmann, (born October 20, 1944) is an Australian-Canadian theoretical biologist. Hoffmann was a faculty member in the Department of Physics at the University of British Columbia and the founder of Network Immunology Inc. in Vancouver, Canada. He is best known for symmetric immune network theory.
Education and early research
Hoffmann studied physics at the
His initial work in theoretical biology addressed
Immune network theory
Hoffmann subsequently joined the
Application to HIV pathogenesis
Because symmetrical immune network theory offers a novel model of HIV pathogenesis, Hoffmann and his lab at the University of British Columbia contributed basic research relevant to the search for an HIV vaccine. Achievements included the co-discovery of "second symmetry", a co-study on antibodies made in a normal immune response that bind both to foreign invaders and to antibodies with the same specificity, and the discovery, with others, that mice immunized with foreign lymphocytes make anti HIV antibodies.[7][8][9][10]
Neural networks
Hoffmann noted many similarities between the immune system and the brain, including that:
- both systems have memory and are able to respond appropriately to a wide range of stimuli
- both networks consist of comparable numbers of cells, and
- both systems have a profound sense of self.
The analogy resulted in the discovery of a neural network in which neurons exhibit hysteresis
Network theory of war
Hoffmann proposed [14] that wars are enabled by selective processes that influence how individuals advance within societies. He argues that such processes occur in all societies, democratic or not, and can be counteracted by increased contact between individual citizens across national or cultural divides.
Further reading
References
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann (1974) On the Origin of the Genetic Code and the Stability of the Translation Apparatus. J. Mol. Biol., 86, 349-362
- ^ L. Orgel (1963) The Maintenance of the Accuracy of Protein Synthesis and its Relevance to Ageing. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 49, 517-521
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann (1975) The Stochastic Theory of the Origin of the Genetic Code. Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem. 26, 123-144 (H. Eyring, Ed.)
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann (1975) A Theory of Regulation and Self-Nonself Discrimination in an Immune Network. Eur. J. Immunol. 5, 638-647
- ISBN 0-8247-6618-0
- ISBN 0-8493-6632-1
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann (1994) Co-selection in Immune Network Theory and in AIDS Pathogenesis. Immunol. Cell Biol., 72, 338-346
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann, A. Cooper-Willis, M. Chow (1986) A New Symmetry: A anti-B is anti-(B-anti-A), and Reverse Enhancement. J. Immunol. 137, 61-68
- ^ R. B. Forsyth, G. W. Hoffmann (1990) A study of auto antiidiotypes to BSA, J. Immunol., 145, 215-223
- ^ T. A. Kion, G. W. Hoffmann (1991) Anti HIV and anti-anti-MHC Antibodies in Alloimmune and Autoimmune Mice. Science, 253, 1138-1140
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann (1986) A Neural Network Model Based on the Analogy with the Immune System. J. Theoret. Biol., 122, 33-67
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann, M. W. Benson, G. M. Bree, P. E. Kinahan (1986) A Teachable Neural Network Based on an Unorthodox Neuron. Physica 22D, 233-246
- ^ M. R. Davenport, G. W. Hoffmann (1989) A Recurrent Neural Network using tri-state hidden neurons to orthogonalize the memory space. Internat. J. Neural Systems, 1, 133-141
- ^ G. W. Hoffmann (1987) A Theory of War and a Strategy for Peace. Security Dialogue (formerly Bulletin of Peace Proposals), 18, 93-98