Nobel winner hopes research yields new treatment

Beutler said he felt "absolutely great" after hearing of his award.

"It's really one of the happiest days of my life," the American told Reuters.

Speaking before learning that co-winner Ralph Steinman had died at the weekend, he said he was very happy to share the award with Steinman and Jules Hoffmann.

"I think they are very deserving," he said, adding that he hoped his research "might lead to new treatments for inflammatory and auto-immune disease and possibly new treatments for other kinds of diseases as well."

Hoffmann -- who was told about his award in Shanghai by reporters who had not yet learned of the death of Steinman -- praised the work of his fellow winners, whose research on the immune system has cantered on mice and humans.

"We have worked on flies, so on the evolution of the system. This has helped the understanding of innate immune system in mice and in humans," Hoffmann told Reuters TV.

"It's an enormous pleasure," he added. "I'm not proud, but I'm very pleased, very pleased for my colleagues."

Hoffmann said a Chinese colleague had earlier received a call concerning the Nobel, but "he was not certain what he understood" due to translation difficulties.

"And it's the sort of news where you don't want to misunderstand. So we said, 'We'll forget about it,'" said the visibly moved Hoffmann.

(Reporting by Veronica Ek in Stockholm and Royston Chan in Shanghai; editing by Andrew Roche)