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Obituary In Memoriam Peter Hans Hofschneider (1929–2004) rof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c. Peter Hans Hofschneider, former director at the Max-Planck-Institute of P Biochemistry in Martinsried, died on July 23 at the age of 75. With him we lost one of the most important pioneers in German molecular biology and a major leader in the field of molecular medicine. Peter Hans Hofschneider was one of the first scientists to realize the potency of molecular biology in the study of disease mechanisms and for the development of novel diagnostic tools and specific therapeutics for major human diseases. Peter Hans Hofschneider obtained a Dr. Phil. from the University of Heidelberg and an M.D. from the University of T¨ubingen, Germany. After an education in clinical medicine in Zurich, Freiburg and Basel, he started a career as a basic scientist at the Max-Planck-Insitute of Biochemistry in Martinsried. He was one of the first to use modern molecular biology to study bacteriophages and subsequently animal viruses. In the early years of his scientific career, but still as a director at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry, Peter Hans Hofschneider was devoted to solving the structures and replication mechanisms of bacteriophages. He was able to show that the single-stranded genomes of DNA and RNA phages replicate via doublestranded intermediates. The latter were designated HF form (Hofschneider Form) by Saul Spiegelman. Of particular importance was the isolation of bacteriophage M13 (Munich 13) by Peter Hans Hofschneider. In collaboration with other research groups, this phage was used to develop one of the first cloning vectors, and part of its genome is still present in most of the cloning vectors used nowadays. In the early seventies, Peter Hans Hofschneider changed the focus of his research to the study of viruses that cause human disease. Most of his work focused on the role of hepatitis B virus in the pathogenesis of liver cancer. His major goal was the search for virus proteins that have cancer-promoting effects in animals and humans. Through the discovery of trans-activating activities of hepatitis B virus proteins associated with the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, he demonstrated the validity of his scientific approach. This discovery opened new avenues for the study of virus-induced liver cancer and for the development of novel and more effective therapeutics. In addition to his work on hepatitis virus, several other projects in the field of molecular medicine were carried out in the Department of Peter Hans Hofschneider. These included (i) the characterization of the role of picornavirus infections in the pathogenesis of myocarditis, (ii) the analysis of the mechanisms involved in the persistence of paramyxoviruses, including measles virus, (iii) studies on the molecular pathogenesis and cell biology of Kaposi’s sarcoma, a normally rare tumour that frequently affects AIDS patients, and (iv) the
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characterization of the molecular mechanisms underlying tissue repair processes. During the past few years,
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