This is a list of notable biologists with a biography in Wikipedia. It includes zoologists, botanists, biochemists, ornithologists, entomologists, malacologists, and other specialities.
A
Ab–Ag John Jacob Abel (1857–1938), American biochemist and pharmacologist, founder of the first department of pharmacology in the United States. John Abelson (born 1938), American biologist with expertise in biophysics, biochemistry, and genetics Richard J. Ablin (born 1940), American immunologist. Research on prostate cancer. Discovered prostate-specific antigen (PSA) which led to the development of the PSA test Erik Acharius (1757–1819), Swedish botanist who studied lichens Gary Ackers (1939–2011), American biophysicist who worked on thermodynamics of macromolecules. Gilbert Smithson Adair (1896–1979), British protein chemist who identified cooperative binding of oxygen binding haemoglobin. Arthur Adams (1820–1878), English physician and naturalist who classified crustaceans and molluscs Michel Adanson (1727–1806), French naturalist who studied the plants and animals of Senegal Julius Adler (1930–2024), American biochemist and geneticist known for work on chemotaxis. Monique Adolphe (1932–2022), French cell biologist, pioneer of cell culture Edgar Douglas Adrian (1st Baron Adrian) (1889–1977), British electrophysiologist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1932) for research on neurons Adam Afzelius (1750–1837), Swedish botanist who collected botanical specimens later acquired by Uppsala University Carl Adolph Agardh (1785–1859), Swedish botanist who classified plant orders and classes Jacob Georg Agardh (1813–1901), Swedish botanist known for classification of algae Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), Swiss zoologist who studied the classification of fish; opponent of natural selection Alexander Agassiz (1835–1910), American zoologist, son of Louis Agassiz, expert of marine biology and on mining Nikolaus Ager (also Nicolas Ager, Agerius) (1568–1634), French botanist, author of De Anima Vegetativa
Ai–An Nagima Aitkhozhina (1946–2020), Kazakh molecular biologist, structural and functional organisation of the genome of higher organisms and the molecular mechanisms of regulation of its expression. William Aiton (1731–1793), Scottish botanist, director of the botanical garden at Kew Bruce Alberts (born 1938), American biochemist, former President of the United States National Academy of Sciences, known for studying the protein complexes involved in chromosome replication, and for the book Molecular Biology of the Cell Robert Alberty (1921–2014), American physical biochemist, with many contributions to enzyme kinetics Edmond Albius (c. 1829–1880) Réunionais horticulturalist, born in slavery, who introduced hand pollination of vanilla Alfred William Alcock (1859–1933), British systematist of numerous species, aspects of biology and physiology of fishes Nora Lilian Alcock (1874–1972), British pioneer in plant pathology who did research on fungal diseases Boyd Alexander (1873–1910), English ornithologist who made surveys of birds in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), and the Bonin Islands Richard D. Alexander (1929–2018), American evolutionary biologist whose scientific pursuits integrated systematics, ecology, evolution, natural history and behaviour Salim Ali (1896–1987), Indian ornithologist who conducted systematic bird surveys across India Frédéric-Louis Allamand (1736–1809), Swiss botanist who described several plant genera Warder Clyde Allee (1885–1955), American zoologist and ecologist, identified the Allee effect (correlation between population density and individual fitness) Joel Asaph Allen (1838–1921), American zoologist who studied birds and mammals, known for Allen's rule Jorge Allende (born 1934), Chilean biochemist known for contributions to the understanding of protein biosynthesis George James Allman (1812–1898), British naturalist who did important work on the gymnoblasts June Dalziel Almeida (1930–2007), Scottish virologist who pioneered techniques for characterizing viruses, and discovered Coronavirus Tikvah Alper (1909–1995), South African radiobiologist who showed that the infectious agent of scrapie contains no nucleic acid Prospero Alpini (1553–1617), Italian botanist, the first in Europe to describe coffee and banana plants Sidney Altman (1939–2022), Canadian-born molecular biologist, winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on RNA
Am–As Bruce Ames (born 1928), American biochemist, inventor of the Ames test for mutagenicity (sometimes regarded as a test for carcinogenicity) John E. Amoore (1939–1998), British biochemist and zoologist, originator of the stereochemical theory of olfaction. José Alberto de Oliveira Anchieta (1832–1897), Portuguese naturalist who identified many new species of mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles Mortimer Louis Anson (1901–1968), American biochemist and protein chemist who proposed that protein folding was reversible Jakob Johan Adolf Appellöf (1857–1921), Swedish marine zoologist who made important contributions to knowledge of cephalopods Agnes Robertson Arber (1879–1960), British plant morphologist and anatomist, historian of botany and philosopher of biology Aristotle (384 BC–322 BC), Greek philosopher, sometimes regarded as the first biologist, he described hundreds of kinds of animals Emily Arnesen (1867–1928), Norwegian zoologist who worked on sponges Frances Arnold (born 1956), American biochemist and biochemical engineer, pioneer of the use of directed evolution to engineer enzymes. Ruth Arnon (born 1933), Israeli biochemist, who works on anti-cancer and influenza vaccinations. She participated in developing the multiple sclerosis drug Copaxone. Peter Artedi (1705–1735), Swedish naturalist who developed the science of ichthyology Gilbert Ashwell (1916–2014), American biochemist, pioneer in the study of cell receptor Ana Aslan (1897–1988), Romanian biologist who studied arthritis and other aspects of aging Boris Astaurov (1904–1974), Soviet biologist and geneticist who worked on breeding experiments including pioneering work on silkworms William Astbury (1898–1961), British physicist, molecular biologist and X-ray crystallographer
At–Az David Attenborough (born 1926), British natural history broadcaster Jean Baptiste Audebert (1759–1800), French naturalist. Primarily an artist, he illustrated books of natural history, including Histoire naturelle des singes, des makis [lemurs] et des galéopithèques Jean Victoire Audouin (1797–1841), French zoologist: entomologist, herpetologist, ornithologist and malacologist John James Audubon (1786–1851), French and American ornithologist and illustrator, who identified 25 new species Charlotte Auerbach (1899–1994), German and British geneticist, founded the discipline of mutagenesis after discovering the effect of mustard gas on fruit flies Caroline Austin (20th–21st century), British molecular biologist known for her work on human DNA topoisomerase enzymes Richard Axel (born 1946), American Nobel Prize–winning physiologist who discovered how to insert foreign DNA into a host cell Julius Axelrod (1912–2004), American biochemist, winner of the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on catecholamine neurotransmitters Francisco Ayala (1934–2023), Spanish-American evolutionary biologist and philosopher William Orville Ayres (1817–1887), American physician and ichthyologist with publications in popular sources Félix de Azara (1746–1811), Spanish naturalist who described more than 350 South American birds
B
Ba Charles Cardale Babington (1808–1895), British botanist and archaeologist Churchill Babington (1821–1889), British classical scholar, archaeologist and botanist John Bachman (1790–1874), American ornithologist; also one of the first scientists to argue that blacks and whites are the same species Curt Backeberg (1894–1966), German horticulturist, known for classification of cacti Karl Ernst von Baer (1792–1876), German naturalist (in Estonia), biologist, geologist, meteorologist, geographer, and a founding father of embryology Liberty Hyde Bailey (1858–1954), American botanist, one of the first to recognize the importance of Gregor Mendel's work Donna Baird (thesis 1980), American epidemiologist and evolutionary-population biologist, concerned with women's health Spencer Fullerton Baird (1823–1887), American naturalist, ornithologist, ichthyologist and herpetologist who collected and classified many species Scott Baker (born 1954), American marine biologist, cetacean expert John Hutton Balfour (1808–1884), Scottish botanist, author of numerous books, including Manual of Botany Clinton Ballou (1923–2021), American biochemist who worked on the metabolism of carbohydrates and the structures of microbial cell walls Henri Heim de Balsac (1899–1979), French zoologist known for work on ethology David Baltimore (1938–2025), American biologist, known for work on viruses. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1975 Outram Bangs (1863–1932), American zoologist who collected many bird species; author of more than 70 books and articles, 55 of them on mammals Joseph Banks (1743–1820), English naturalist, botanist who collected 30,000 plant specimens and discovered 1,400. Robert Bárány (1876–1936), Austro-Hungarian (later Swedish) physician. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1914) for studies of the vestibular system Horace Barker (1907–2000), American biochemist and microbiologist Ben Barres (1954–2017), American neurobiologist who studied mammalian glial cells of the central nervous system Ewa Bartnik (born 1949), Polish biologist and university professor Benjamin Smith Barton (1766–1815), American botanist, author of Elements of botany, or Outlines of the natural history of vegetables, the first American textbook of botany John Bartram (1699–1777), American botanist, described by Carl Linnaeus as the "greatest natural botanist in the world" William Bartram (1739–1823), American botanist, ornithologist, natural historian, and explorer, author of Bartram's Travels (as now known) Anton de Bary (1831–1888), German surgeon, botanist, microbiologist, and mycologist, considered a founding father of plant pathology (phytopathology) as well as the founder of modern mycology Dorothea Bate (1878–1951), Welsh palaeontologist and pioneer of archaeozoology who studied fossils Henry Walter Bates (1825–1892), English naturalist who gave the first scientific account of mimicry Patrick Bateson (1938–2017), English biologist and science writer, president of the Zoological Society of London August Johann Georg Karl Batsch (1762–1802), German botanist, mycologist who discovered almost 200 species of mushrooms Gaspard Bauhin (1560–1624), Swiss botanist who introduced binomial nomenclature into taxonomy, foreshadowing Linnaeus
Be–Bi George Beadle (1903–1989), American geneticist. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1958 for discovery of the role of genes in regulating biochemical reactions within cells. 7th president of the University of Chicago. Johann Matthäus Bechstein (1757–1822), German naturalist, ornithologist, entomologist and herpetologist known for his treatise on singing birds Naturgeschichte der Stubenvögel Rollo Beck (1870–1950), American ornithologist known for collecting birds and reptiles, including three of the last four individuals of the Pinta Island tortoise Jon Beckwith (born 1935), American microbiologist and geneticist who worked on bacterial genetics. Charles William Beebe (1877–1962), American biologist, known for work on pheasants, and numerous books on natural history Martinus Beijerinck (1851–1931), Dutch microbiologist and botanist who discovered viruses and investigated nitrogen fixation by bacteria Helmut Beinert (1913–2007), German-American biochemist, a pioneer of the use of electron paramagnetic resonance in biological systems Chase Beisel (PhD 2009), German professor of synthetic RNA biology at Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg Thomas Bell (1792–1880), English zoologist, surgeon and writer who described and classified Darwin's reptile specimens and crustaceans David Bellamy (1933–2019), English broadcaster, activist and ecologist Boris Pavlovich Belousov (1893–1970), Soviet chemist and biophysicist who discovered the Belousov–Zhabotinsky reaction Stephen J. Benkovic (born 1938), American bioorganic chemist specializing in mechanistic enzymology Edward Turner Bennett (1797–1836), English zoologist who described a new species of African crocodile John Joseph Bennett (1801–1876), British physician and botanist George Bentham (1800–1884), English botanist, known for his taxonomy of plants, written with Joseph Dalton Hooker, Genera Plantarum Jacques Benoit (1896–1982), French biologist, physician. One of the pioneers of neuroendocrinology and photobiology. Robert Bentley (1821–1893), English botanist, known for Medicinal Plants (four volumes) Wilson Teixeira Beraldo (1917–1998), Brazilian physician and physiologist, co-discoverer of bradykinin Paul Berg (1926–2023), American biochemist known for work on gene splicing of recombinant DNA. Hans Berger (1873–1941), German neuroscientist, one of the founders of electroencephalography Carl Bergmann (1814–1865), German anatomist, physiologist and biologist who developed Bergmann's rule relating population and body sizes with ambient temperature Rudolph Bergh (1824–1909), Danish physician and zoologist who studied sexually transmitted diseases, and also molluscs J. D. Bernal (1901–1971), Irish molecular biologist who pioneered the use of X-ray crystallography Claude Bernard (1813–1878), French physiologist, father of the concepts of the milieu intérieur and homeostasis Samuel Stillman Berry (1887–1984), American zoologist who established 401 mollusc taxa, and worked on chitons, cephalopods, and also land snails Thomas Bewick (1753–1828), English ornithologist and illustrator, author of A General History of Quadrupeds Gabriel Bibron (1806–1848), French zoologist, expert on reptiles and author (with André Marie Constant Duméril) of Erpétologie Générale Klaus Biemann (1926–2016), Austrian chemist, the "father of organic mass spectrometry" Ann Bishop (1899–1990), English biologist who specialized in protozoology and parasitology J. Michael Bishop (1936–2026), American immunologist and microbiologist who shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Biswamoy Biswas (1923–1994), Indian ornithologist who studied, in particular, the birds of Nepal and Bhutan
Bl–Bo Elizabeth Blackburn (born 1948), Australian/US Nobel Prize–winning researcher in the field of telomeres and the "telomerase" enzyme John Blackwall (1790–1881), British entomologist, author of A History of the Spiders of Great Britain and Ireland Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville (1777–1850), French zoologist, taxonomic authority on numerous zoological species, including Blainville's beaked whale Albert Francis Blakeslee (1874–1954), American botanist, best known for research on Jimsonweed and the sexuality of fungi Thomas Blakiston (1832–1891), English naturalist. "Blakiston's Line" separates animal species of Hokkaidō and northern Asia, from those of Honshū and southern Asia. Frank Nelson Blanchard (1888–1937), American herpetologist who described new subspecies of snakes. Frjeda Blanchard (1889–1977), American plant and animal geneticist who demonstrated Mendelian inheritance in reptiles. William Thomas Blanford (1832–1905), English geologist and naturalist, editor of The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Pieter Bleeker (1819–1878), Dutch ichthyologist whose papers described 511 new genera and 1,925 new species Günter Blobel (1936–2018), German Nobel Prize-winning biologist who discovered that newly synthesized proteins contain "address tags" which direct them to the proper location within the cell Konrad Emil Bloch (1912–2000), German-American biochemist who worked on cholesterol and fatty acid metabolism Steven Block (born 1952), American biophysicist who measured the mechanical properties of single bio-molecules David Mervyn Blow (1931–2004), British X-ray crystallographer noted for work on protein structure Carl Ludwig Blume (Karel Lodewijk Blume, 1789–1862), German-Dutch botanist who studied the flora of southern Asia, particularly Java Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (1752–1840), German physiologist and anthropologist who classified human races on the basis of skull structure Edward Blyth (1810–1873), English zoologist who classified many birds of India José Vicente Barbosa du Bocage (1823–1907), Portuguese zoologist with many papers on mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, and others Pieter Boddaert (1730–1795/1796), Dutch physician and naturalist who named many mammals, birds and other animals Brendan J. M. Bohannan (PhD 1997), American microbial and evolutionary biologist, expert on the microbes of Amazonia Charles Lucien Bonaparte (1803–1857), French naturalist who coined Latin names for many bird species James Bond (1900–1989), American ornithologist, author of Birds of the West Indies Franco Andrea Bonelli (1784–1830), Italian ornithologist, author of a Catalogue of the Birds of Piedmont, which described 262 species August Gustav Heinrich von Bongard (1786–1839), German botanist in St Petersburg, one of the first botanists to describe the plants of Alaska John Tyler Bonner (1920–2019), American developmental biologist, expert on slime moulds Charles Bonnet (1720–1793), Genevan naturalist who published work on many subjects, including insects and plants Aimé Bonpland (1773–1858), French explorer and botanist who collected and classified about 6,000 plants unknown in Europe Jules Bordet (1870–1961), Belgian immunologist and microbiologist, winner of the 1919 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the complement system in the immune system Antonina Georgievna Borissova (1903–1970), Russian botanist who specialized on the flora of the deserts and semi-desert of central Asia Norman Borlaug (1914–2009), American agricultural scientist, humanitarian, Nobel Peace Prize, and the father of the Green Revolution Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc (1759–1828), French botanist, invertebrate zoologist, and entomologist, who made a systematic examination of the mushrooms of the southern United States Edward George Boulenger (1888–1946) British zoologist and director of the London Zoo aquarium George Albert Boulenger (1858–1937), Belgian and British zoologist, author of 19 monographs on fishes, amphibians, and reptiles Jules Bourcier (1797–1873), French ornithologist, expert on hummingbirds Paul D. Boyer (1918–2018), American biochemist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1997 for studies of ATP synthase
Br–Bro Margaret Bradshaw (born 1941), New Zealand Antarctic researcher who has worked on Devonian invertebrate palaeontology Johann Friedrich von Brandt (1802–1879), German-Russian naturalist who described various birds; also an entomologist, specialising in beetles and millipedes Sara Branham Matthews (1888–1962), American microbiologist and physician best known for her research into the isolation and treatment of Neisseria meningitidis Christian Ludwig Brehm (1787–1864), German ornithologist who described many German species of birds Alfred Brehm (1829–1884), German zoologist, author of many works on animals and especially birds Sydney Brenner (1927–2019), British molecular biologist who worked on the genetic code, and later established the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism for developmental biology. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2002) Roger Brent (born 1955), American biologist known for studying gene regulation and systems biology Thomas Mayo Brewer (1814–1880), American naturalist, specializing in ornithology and oology (the study of birds' eggs) William Brewster (1851–1919), American ornithologist, curator of mammals and birds at Harvard. Mathurin Jacques Brisson (1723–1806), French zoologist, author of Le Règne animal and Ornithologie Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859–1934), American botanist, coauthor of Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States, Canada, and the British Possessions Thomas D. Brock (1926–2021), American microbiologist who discovered of hyperthermophiles such as Thermus aquaticus Adolphe Theodore Brongniart (1801–1876), French botanist, author of many works, including Histoire des végétaux fossiles Robert Broom (1866–1951), South African paleontologist, author many many papers and books, including The mammal-like reptiles of South Africa and the origin of mammals Adrian John Brown (1852–1920), British expert on brewing and malting, pioneer of enzyme kinetics James H. Brown (born 1942), American ecologist known for his metabolic theory of ecology Patrick O. Brown (born 1954), American biochemist who has developed experimental methods with DNA microarrays to investigate genome organization Robert Brown (1773–1858), Scottish botanist known for pioneering use of the microscope in botany
Bru–Bu David Bruce (1855–1931), Scottish pathologist and microbiologist who investigated Malta fever (now called brucellosis) and discovered trypanosomes Jean Guillaume Bruguière (1750–1798), French naturalist, mainly interested in molluscs and other invertebrates Thomas Bruice (1925–2019), American bioorganic chemist, pioneer of chemical biology Morten Thrane Brünnich (1737–1827), Danish zoologist, author of Ornithologia Borealis and Ichthyologia Massiliensis Francis Buchanan-Hamilton (1762–1829), Scottish zoologist and botanist who studied plants and fishes in India Marcel Bucher (born 1964), Swiss plant scientist and professor of Molecular Plant Physiology Eduard Buchner (1860–1917), German chemist and physiologist who overthrew the doctrine of vitalism by showing that fermentation occurred in cell-free extracts of yeast Linda B. Buck (born 1947), American physiologist noted for work on the olfactory system. Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2004). Buffon (Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, 1707–1788), French naturalist. Author of many works in evolution, including Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière. Walter Buller (1838–1906), New Zealand ornithologist. Author of A History of the Birds of New Zealand. Alexander G. von Bunge (1803–1890), German-Russian botanist who studied Mongolian flora. Luther Burbank (1849–1926), American horticulturalist who developed more than 800 strains and varieties of plants, many of commercial importance Hermann Burmeister (1807–1892), German Argentinian zoologist, entomologist, herpetologist, and botanist, who described many new species of amphibians and reptiles Frank Macfarlane Burnet (1899–1985), Australian virologist. Nobel Prize in 1960 for predicting acquired immune tolerance and for developing the theory of clonal selection. Carolyn Burns (born 1942), New Zealand ecologist who studies the physiology and population dynamics of southern hemisphere zooplankton and food-web interactions Robert H. Burris (1914–2010), American biochemist, expert on nitrogen fixation Carlos Bustamante (born 1951), Peruvian-American biophysicist who uses "molecular tweezers" to manipulate DNA for biochemical experiments Ernesto Bustamante (born 1950), Peruvian biochemist, specialist in mitochondria demonstrated the importance of mitochondrial hexokinase in glycolysis in rapidly growing malignant tumour cells. He currently works on DNA paternity testing.
C
Ca Jean Cabanis (1816–1906), German ornithologist, founder of the Journal für Ornithologie Ángel Cabrera (1879–1960), Spanish zoologist, author of South American Mammals Ángel Lulio Cabrera (1908–1999), Argentine botanist George Caley (1770–1829), English explorer and botanist, discoverer of Mount Banks, Australia Rudolf Jakob Camerarius (1665–1721), German botanist, chiefly known for studies of the reproductive organs of plants Augustin Pyramus de Candolle (1778–1841), Swiss botanist who documented many plant families and created a new plant classification system Charles Cantor (born 1942), American biophysicist, known for pulse field gel electrophoresis, and as Director of the Human Genome Project María Luz Cárdenas (born 1944). French biochemist of Chilean origin at the CNRS, Marseille, known for work on mammalian hexokinases. Elizabeth P. Carpenter (21st century), British structural biologist, professor Philip Pearsall Carpenter (1819–1877), British conchologist, author of Catalogue of the collection of Mazatlan shells, in the British Museum: collected by Frederick Reigen Alexis Carrel (1873–1944), French biologist and surgeon, winner of the 1912 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work on sutures and organ transplants, advocate of eugenics Elie-Abel Carrière (1818–1896), French botanist, an authority on conifers who described many new species Clodoveo Carrión Mora (1883–1957), Ecuadorian paleontologist and naturalist who discovered many species and one genus Sean B. Carroll (born 1960), American evolutionary development biologist, author of The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution and other books Rachel Carson (1907–1964), American marine biologist, author of Silent Spring George Washington Carver (1860–1943), American agriculturist, author of bulletins on crop production, including How to Grow the Peanut and 105 Ways of Preparing it for Human Consumption John Cassin (1813–1869), American ornithologist, who named many birds not described in the works of his predecessors Alexandre de Cassini (1781–1832), French botanist who named many flowering plants and new genera in the sunflower family, many of them from North America Amy Castle (1880–1971), New Zealand entomologist, who worked primarily on the Lepidoptera William E. Castle (1867–1962), American geneticist who contributed to the mathematical foundations of Mendelian genetics, and anticipated what is now known as the Hardy–Weinberg law. Mark Catesby (1683–1749), English naturalist who studied flora and fauna in the New World. Author of Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands
Ce–Ch Thomas Cech (born 1947), American biochemist who discovered catalytic RNA, Nobel Prize in 1989 Andrea Cesalpino (1519–1603), Italian botanist who classified plants according to their fruits and seeds, rather than alphabetically or by medicinal properties Francesco Cetti (1726–1778), Italian zoologist, author of Storia Naturale di Sardegna (Natural History of Sardinia) Carlos Chagas (1879–1934), Brazilian physician who identified Trypanosoma cruzi as cause of Chagas disease Adelbert von Chamisso (Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamissot, 1781–1838), German botanist, whose most important contribution was the description of many Mexican trees Juliana Chan (PhD 2010), Singaporean biologist and science communicator Britton Chance (1913–2010), American biochemist, inventor of the stopped-flow method Min Chueh Chang (1908–1991), Chinese-American reproductive biologist who studied the fertilisation process in mammalian reproduction, with work that led to the first test tube baby Jean-Pierre Changeux (born 1936), French biochemist and neuroscientist, originator of the allosteric model of cooperativity Frank Michler Chapman (1864–1945), American ornithologist, who promoted the use of photography in ornithology, especially in his book Bird Studies With a Camera. Erwin Chargaff (1905–2002), Austrian-American biochemist known for Chargaff's rules Emmanuelle Charpentier (born 1968), French microbiologist, geneticist and biochemist who discovered genome editing with CRISPR. Myriam Charpentier (21st century), British molecular biologist and researcher of nuclear calcium signaling Martha Chase (1927–2003), American biologist who carried out the Hershey–Chase experiment, which showed that genetic information is held and transmitted by DNA, not by protein Thomas Frederic Cheeseman (1846–1923), New Zealand botanist and naturalist with wide-ranging interests, including sea slugs Sergei Chetverikov (1880–1959), Russian population geneticist who showed how early genetic theories applied to natural populations, and thus contributed towards the modern synthesis of evolutionary theory Charles Chilton (1860–1929), New Zealand zoologist with 130 papers on crustaceans, mostly amphipods, isopods and decapods, from all around the world, but especially from New Zealand Carl Chun (1852–1914), German marine biologist specializing in cephalopods and plankton. He discovered and named the vampire squid Aaron Ciechanover (born 1947). Israeli biochemist known for work on protein turnover, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2004
Cl–Co Albert Claude (1899–1983), Belgian-American cell biologist who developed cell fractionation; Nobel Prize 1974 W. Wallace Cleland (1930–2013). American biochemist known for work on enzyme kinetics and mechanism Nathan Cobb (1859–1932), American biologist who described over 1000 different nematode species and laid the foundations of nematode taxonomy Leonard Cockayne (1855–1934), New Zealand botanist especially active in plant ecology and theories of hybridisation Alfred Cogniaux (1841–1916), Belgian botanist who worked especially with orchids Stanley Cohen (1922–2020), American biochemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1986) for his discovery of growth factors Edwin Joseph Cohn (1892–1953), American protein chemist known for studies on blood and the physical chemistry of protein Mildred Cohn (1913–2009), American pioneer in the use of nuclear magnetic resonance to study enzymes James J. Collins (born 1965), American biologist, synthetic biology and systems biology pioneer Timothy Abbott Conrad (1803–1877), American paleontologist and naturalist who studied the shells of the Tertiary and Cretaceous formations, as well as existing species of molluscs James Graham Cooper (1830–1902), American surgeon and naturalist who contributed to both zoology and botany William Cooper (1798–1864), American naturalist and conchologist Edward Drinker Cope (1840–1897), American paleontologist and comparative anatomist, also a herpetologist and ichthyologist, and founder of the Neo-Lamarckism school of thought Carl Ferdinand Cori (1896–1984), Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for work on the Cori cycle Gerty Cori (1886–1957), Czech-American biochemist, first American woman to win a Nobel Prize in science (Physiology or Medicine, 1947), for unraveling the mechanism of glycogen metabolism Charles B. Cory (1857–1921), American ornithologist who collected many birds. Author of The Birds of Haiti and San Domingo and other books. Emanuel Mendes da Costa (1717–1791), English botanist, naturalist, philosopher, author of A Natural History of Fossils, British Conchology, and other books Elliott Coues (1842–1899), American army surgeon, historian, ornithologist, and author of Key to North American Birds, did much to promote the systematic study of ornithology Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer (1907–2004), South African zoologist who discovered the Coelacanth Jacques-Yves Cousteau (1910–1997), French naval officer, explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water Miguel Rolando Covian (1913–1992), Argentine-Brazilian neurophysiologist known for research on the neurophysiology of the limbic system, regarded as the father of Brazilian neurophysiology Frederick Vernon Coville (1867–1937), American botanist, author of Botany of the Death Valley Expedition Jerry Allen Coyne (born 1949), American biologist and skeptic known for his work on speciation and commentary on intelligent design
Cr–Cu Robert K. Crane (1919–2010), American biochemist who discovered sodium–glucose cotransport Lucy Cranwell (1907–2000), New Zealand botanist who organized the Cheeseman herbarium of about 10,000 specimens in Auckland Philipp Jakob Cretzschmar (1786–1845), German physician and zoologist (especially birds and mammals) Francis Crick (1916–2004), British molecular biologist, biophysicist and neuroscientist, best known for discovering the structure of DNA (with James Watson); Nobel Prize 1962 Joseph Charles Hippolyte Crosse (1826–1898), French conchologist, expert on molluscs, co-editor of the Journal de Conchyliologie Nicholas Culpeper (1616–1654), English botanist, author of The English Physitian Allan Cunningham (1791–1839), English botanist, "King's Collector for the Royal Garden at Kew" (in Australia) Gordon Herriot Cunningham (1892–1962), New Zealand mycologist who published extensively on the taxonomy of fungi Richard Cunningham (1793–1835), English botanist, superintendent of the Sydney Botanic Gardens Kathleen Curtis (1892–1993), New Zealand mycologist and plant pathologist, a founder of plant pathology in New Zealand William Curtis (1746–1799), English botanist, author of Flora Londinensis Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), French naturalist, author of Le Règne Animal (the Animal Kingdom), the "founding father of paleontology"
D
Da Valerie Daggett (thesis 1990), American bioengineer who simulates proteins and other biomolecules by molecular dynamics Anders Dahl (1751–1789), Swedish botanist whose name is recalled in the Dahlia, author of Observationes botanicae circa systema vegetabilium Marie Daiber (1868–1928), German-born Swiss zoologist William Healey Dall (1845–1927), American malacologist, one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska. He described many mollusks of the Pacific Northwest of America Keith Dalziel (1921–1994), British biochemist, pioneer in systematizing the kinetics of two-substrate enzyme-catalysed reactions Carl Peter Henrik Dam (1895–1976), Danish physiologist who discovered vitamin K Marguerite Davis (1887–1967), American biochemist, co-discoverer of vitamins A and B Jivanayakam Cyril Daniel (1927–2011), Indian naturalist, director of the Bombay Natural History Society, author of The Book of Indian Reptiles Charles Darwin (1809–1882), British naturalist, author of The Origin of Species, in which he expounded the theory of natural selection, the starting point of modern evolutionary biology Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), English physician and naturalist, founding member of the Lunar Society, grandfather of Charles Darwin Sir Francis Darwin (1848–1925), British botanist known for work on phototropism Jean Dausset (1916–2009), French immunologist who worked on the major histocompatibility complex Charles Davenport (1866–1944), American biologist and eugenicist, founded the Eugenics Record Office at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Gertrude Crotty Davenport (1866–1946), American zoologist prominent in the eugenics movement Armand David (Père David) (1826–1900), French zoologist and botanist, commissioned by the Jardin des Plantes to undertake scientific journeys through China Bernard Davis (1916–1994), American biologist who worked on microbial physiology and metabolism Marian Stamp Dawkins (born 1945), British biologist and ethologist who studied vision in birds and animal signalling Richard Dawkins (born 1941), British evolutionary biologist and writer of popular science, author of The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, The God Delusion and other influential books Margaret Oakley Dayhoff (1925–1983), American biochemist, pioneer in bioinformatics.
De–Di Pierre Antoine Delalande (1787–1823), French naturalist employed by the National Museum of Natural History to collect natural history specimens Max Delbrück (1906–1981), German-American physicist and biologist who demonstrated that natural selection acting on random mutations applied to bacteria, one of the creators of molecular biology; Nobel Prize 1969. Richard Dell (1920–2002), New Zealand malacologist, author of The Archibenthal Mollusca of New Zealand Stefano Delle Chiaje (1794–1860), Italian zoologist, botanist, anatomist and physician who worked on medicinal plants and on the taxonomy of invertebrates Nina Demme (1902–1977), Soviet polar explorer, biologist, and ornithologist Paul Émile de Puydt (1810–1888), Belgian botanist, author of Les Orchidées, histoire iconographique ..., active in political philosophy as well as botany René Louiche Desfontaines (1750–1833), French botanist and ornithologist who collected many plants in Tunisia and Algeria Gérard Paul Deshayes (1795–1875), French geologist and conchologist, distinguished for research on mollusc fossils Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest (1784–1838), French zoologist, author of Histoire Naturelle des Tangaras, des Manakins et des Todiers (natural history of various birds) Margaret Dick (1918–2008), pioneering Australian microbiologist who developed methodology for safe food production Ernst Dieffenbach (1811–1855), German naturalist, one of the first scientists to work in New Zealand Johann Jacob Dillenius (1684–1747), German botanist who worked in England on rare plants and mosses Lewis Weston Dillwyn (1778–1855), British botanist and conchologist, also active in porcelain manufacture and politics, author of The British Confervae, an illustrated study of British freshwater algae John T. Dingle (active from 1959) British biologist and rheumatologist. Joan Marjorie Dingley (1916–2008), New Zealand mycologist, world authority on fungi and New Zealand plant diseases Zacharias Dische (1895–1988), Ukrainian-Jewish-American biochemist who discovered metabolic regulation by feedback inhibition Malcolm Dixon (1899–1985), British biochemist, authority on enzyme structure, kinetics, and properties; author (with Edwin Webb) of Enzymes.
Do Walter Dobrogosz (1933–2023), American microbiologist, discoverer of Lactobacillus reuteri Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975), American geneticist of Ukrainian origin, one of the leading evolutionary biologists of his time Rembert Dodoens (1517–1585), Flemish botanist who classified plants according to their properties and affinities (rather than listing them alphabetically) Anton Dohrn (1840–1909), German marine biologist, Darwinist, founder of the world's first zoological research station, in Naples Carl August Dohrn (1806–1892), German entomologist who described several species of beetles Heinrich Wolfgang Ludwig Dohrn (1838–1913), German zoologist, entomologist, with interests mainly in the Orthoptera and Lepidoptera, David Don (1799–1841), British botanist who described major conifers discovered in his time, including the Coast Redwood George Don (1798–1856), British botanist known for his four-volume A General System of Gardening and Botany Franciscus Cornelis Donders (1818–1889) Dutch ophthalmologist, authority on eye diseases James Donn (1758–1813), English botanist, curator of the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, and author of Hortus Cantabrigiensis Jean Dorst (1924–2001), French ornithologist, authority on bird migration and one of the writers of Le Peuple Migrateur (Winged Migration) Edward Doubleday (1810–1849), British entomologist known for The Genera of Diurnal Lepidoptera Henry Doubleday (1808–1875), British entomologist, author of the first catalogue of British butterflies and moths, Synonymic List of the British Lepidoptera Jennifer Doudna (born 1964), American biochemist known for CRISPR-mediated genome editing; Nobel Prize 2020 David Douglas (1799–1834), Scottish botanist who studied conifers. The Douglas-fir is named after him.
Du Patricia Louise Dudley (1929–2004), American zoologist who studied copepods (small crustaceans) Peter Duesberg (1936–2026), German-American virologist who discovered the first retrovirus, and expert on genetic aspects of cancer, but his research contributions are overshadowed by his unpopular views on AIDS Félix Dujardin (1802–1860), French zoologist who studied protozoans, and also the structure of the insect brain Renato Dulbecco (1914–2012), Italian-American virologist awarded the Nobel Prize for work on oncoviruses Ronald Duman (1954–2020), American neuroscientist whose work in biological psy