# Bruce Beutler

_American immunologist and geneticist_

Canonical: https://diginpl.com/people/bruce-beutler
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> Bruce Alan Beutler ( BOYT-lər; born December 29, 1957) is an American immunologist and geneticist. Together with Jules A. Hoffmann, he received one-half of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for "discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity." Beutler discovered the long-elusive receptor for lipopolysaccharide (LPS; also known as endotoxin). He did so by identifying spontaneous mutations in the gene coding for mouse Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4) in two unrelated strains of LPS-refractory mice and proving they were responsible for that phenotype. Subsequently, and chiefly through the work of Shizuo Akira, other TLRs were shown to detect signature molecules of most infectious microbes, in each case triggering an innate immune response.

## Quick facts

- **Born:** 29 December 1957 ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P569))
- **Place of birth:** Chicago ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P19))
- **Citizenship:** United States ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P27))
- **Occupation:** physician; geneticist; immunologist; university teacher; scientist ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P106))
- **Education:** University of California, San Diego; Pritzker School of Medicine; Polytechnic School ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P69))
- **Official website:** utsouthwestern.edu/labs/beutler ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P856))
- **Awards:** Balzan Prize; Albany Medical Center Prize; Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine; William B. Coley Award; Grand Prix Charles-Leopold Mayer; Stanley J. Korsmeyer Award; Robert Koch Prize; Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine; Fellow of the AACR Academy; Clarivate Citation Laureates; honorary doctor of the Aix-Marseille University ([Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592#P166))

## About

The other half of the Nobel Prize went to Ralph M. Steinman for "his discovery of the dendritic cell and its role in adaptive immunity."

Beutler is currently a Regental Professor and Director of the Center for the Genetics of Host Defense at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas.  In 2012, Beutler was appointed as an Honorary Professor in the School of Biochemistry and Immunology at Trinity College Dublin.

## Questions

**When was Bruce Beutler born?**  
Bruce Beutler was born on 29 December 1957 in Chicago.

**Where did Bruce Beutler study?**  
Bruce Beutler was educated at University of California, San Diego, Pritzker School of Medicine, Polytechnic School.

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## Sources

- [Wikipedia (English): Bruce Beutler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Beutler) — [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
- [Wikidata item Q104592](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q104592) — [CC0 1.0](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- [Image: Nobel Prize 2011-Press Conference KI-DSC 7512.jpg by Holger Motzkau (CC BY-SA 3.0)](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nobel_Prize_2011-Press_Conference_KI-DSC_7512.jpg)

## Licence and attribution

Text from the Wikipedia article Bruce Beutler, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. This page's text is shared under the same licence. Facts from Wikidata (CC0). Image: Nobel Prize 2011-Press Conference KI-DSC 7512.jpg — Holger Motzkau, CC BY-SA 3.0.

## Cite this page

"Bruce Beutler". DigiNepal. Last updated 1 November 2026. https://diginpl.com/people/bruce-beutler. Retrieved 5 November 2026.