The results of the Society of Biology’s top 10 poll of people who have changed the world with biology have been announced. The public poll was part of the ‘Biology: Changing the World’ project and the shortlist was collated from public nominations and other famous faces of biology.

The Society received over 700 votes, and can reveal the top ten nominees as:

10. Dorothy Hodgkin

9. Anthony Carlisle

8. David Attenborough

7. Alfred Russel Wallace

6. Alec Jeffreys

5. David Hopwood

4. Edward Jenner

3. Fred Sanger

2. Rosalind Franklin

1. Charles Darwin

Although Darwin received over 35% of the votes, more than 40 different individuals received votes in the poll, illustrating just how many people biology has to celebrate. Blogs on each of the top ten will be released by the Society over the coming weeks to share and celebrate the stories of these great scientists.

All those voted for in the poll will be included in the mobile app and website being developed as part of the project. The Society of Biology is still looking for more names for inclusion - if you have any suggestions please send them to the executive officer.

Biology: Changing the World

The Society of Biology gained funding from Heritage Lottery for a project collating and sharing the great biologists and biologically significant locations in the UK. The project will be developed in partnership with BBSRC and the resources produced will be shared with the public through social media, websites, mobile apps and resources for primary school children.