Postdoctoral Scientist @Stanford • Ph.D. @Columbia @sternberglab • @UCL Bichemistry ‘20 • Transposons, microbes, viruses, CRISPR genome engineering
Stanford, CA
Joined December 2019
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Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Nature research paper: Exapted CRISPR–Cas12f homologues drive RNA-guided transcription
go.nature.com/3P0wiNu
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Nature research paper: Structural basis of RNA-guided transcription by a dCas12f–σE–RNAP complex
go.nature.com/3MXvicv
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Genome maintenance by telomerase is a fundamental process in nearly all eukaryotes. But where does it come from?
Today, we report the discovery of telomerase homologs in a family of antiviral RTs, revealing an unexpected evolutionary origin in bacteria.
doi.org/10.1101/2025.10.16.6…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Know the feeling when two things look similar, and yet turn out to be quite different? Seems like defense-associated reverse transcriptases will continue to surprise us...
Another thrilling story uncovered in collaboration with @WiedenheftLab! Check it out:
The sequel to our DRT2 story is here, and this one is once again full of surprises! This time around, the @SternbergLab teamed up with the @WiedenheftLab to study how DRT9 reverse transcriptases provide antiviral immunity. Here’s what we found: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Thrilled, and also in a bit of disbelief, to see our paper featured on the cover of @ScienceMagazine! "Finding Neo" wasn't easy, but we just kept swimming (read: stared at a sequence of DNA) until the Eureka moment hit.
The central dogma of molecular biology states that genetic information flows from DNA and RNA to protein, with reverse transcription converting RNA to DNA.
In the pursuit of understanding how bacteria defend themselves from viral infection, two groups have found alternative pathways to making genes from RNA that did not previously encode proteins. Learn more this week in Science: bit.ly/3ZO7tI1
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
In a major milestone for science, for medicine, and for patients, the world’s first CRISPR drug has been approved in the UK.
“A new treatment for sickle-cell disease and transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia has been authorised by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for patients aged 12 and over after a rigorous assessment of its safety, quality and effectiveness.”
Congratulations to the many scientists, doctors, patients, and industry leaders who made this development possible.🍻
gov.uk/government/news/mhra-…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
We're hiring! Join the Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics department here at Columbia, in wonderful NYC, and pursue your best scientific ideas amidst fantastic colleagues and a growing community.
Happy to answer any questions about the department or application process.
Who would not want to start the independent career working with this amazing group of junior faculty? Having peers that get you, share your problems, and can have a drink with you at the end of the week is key for success! BMB is hiring- please apply:apply.interfolio.com/131823
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Thrilled to see our latest work published this week, on the essential roles of IscB/TnpB -- ancestral homologs of Cas9/Cas12 -- in transposon maintenance & spread. A wonderful team effort led by the talented Chance Meers! Thread on bioRxiv version below...
nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
Great news - our lab's latest manuscript is out on bioRxiv!
Led by postdoc Chance Meers, we discovered that RNA-guided DNA cleavage by transposon-encoded nucleases arose to facilitate the pervasive spread and inheritance of transposons. 🧵: (1/6) biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
What a day! We had such a blast sharing our science with middle-schoolers in Long Island, at the inaugural Cutting-Edge Science Camp! Big shout-out to all the volunteers from @Columbia, and to @SawickiScience @jameshmccabe @dharls1 @WenWanso and all the teachers from East Meadow!
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
OpenAI just launched GPT-4.
It leaves ChatGPT in the dust.
Here's everything you need to know:
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
ChatGPT has 100,000,000+ users.
But 99% don't know its output formats beyond text.
11 Powerful output formats ChatGPT can produce ( with examples ) 🧵:
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Incredible work from @KHAYASHILAB1 making viable eggs from male mice - gay couples could have kids this way.
Dr. Hayashi predicts scientists will have proof of concept for this in human 'in the next 10 years.'
I think it'll be a lot faster than that!
theguardian.com/science/2023…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
In our work on engineered living materials, a question we ask ourselves is ‘How can we use synthetic biology to make materials more sustainable?’ In our new preprint, Marcus Walker @Marcus_waal answers this with ‘Bacterial Black Sheep’.
How? Read on… 🧵⬇️
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
UPDATE: accelerated preview published (with minor revisions) at @Nature: rdcu.be/c0zBn. Special thanks to all 3 reviewers for their kind words, thoughtful questions and insightful critiques! It was the kind of review process every scientist dreams about!
As presented at #cshlTE22 we just posted our preprint describing the holo CRISPR RNA-guided transposon integration complex
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
I'm thrilled to share our new study out today in @Nature on the role of TnsC in enhancing the fidelity of RNA-guided transposition. A wonderful collaboration with @IsraelF96135088. For more info, check out lead author Florian's (@fthoffmann) thread below!
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ora…
Excited that our paper is now online @Nature! Selective TnsC recruitment enhances the fidelity of RNA-guided transposition - the result of a fantastic collaboration of the @shsternberg and @IsraelF96135088 labs. (nature.com/articles/s41586-0…) A thread:
1/10
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Today, our work in partnership with @shsternberg lab is published:
nature.com/articles/s41586-0…
Amazing (and hard) journey with @fthoffmann @JingWang0610 Leslie, MinJoo and more! Thanks to all for your hard work and 👇 a taste of what we saw.
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
🔥hot off the press from the @kellogg_liz lab 🔥
We report the first cryo-EM structure of a CAST catalytic component, commonly called the transposase. In the V-K CAST system this component is named TnsB, published this week in PNAS! (1/9)
pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pn…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
Congratulations to @SanneKlompe for being a recipient of the prestigious Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award from @fredhutch in recognition of her outstanding achievement in graduate studies in biological sciences! 🎉
See the full announcement here:
fredhutch.org/en/news/releas…
Florian Hoffmann, PhD retweeted
So honored to be one of the @fredhutch @WeintraubAward recipients this year! Shoutout to my mentor @shsternberg and my amazing labmates!📱🧬🎉
Congratulations to the thirteen 2022 Weintraub awardees @WeintraubAward fredhutch.org/en/news/releas…
