Most influential immunologists

Requested by Wolfgang · October 28, 2026

We asked 10 models: The most influential people in the field of immunology. Each named its own top 10.

Agreement between models: 48%
Same model, run twice: 75%
Different picks: 29

When agreement between models is well below a model's agreement with itself, the split reflects real differences in taste rather than randomness.

The consensus

We asked 10 models: The most influential people in the field of immunology. Each named its own top 10.

Each cell is the position that model gave the pick; blank means it left the pick off. Click a row for each model's reasoning.

#	Pick	Listed by	Claude Haiku 5.5	GPT-6 Luna	Gemini 4 Argon	Qwen 3.8 Flash	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	GLM-5.3	Kimi K3	MiniMax M3	Mistral Large 4	Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
1	Edward Jenner	9/10	1	1	1	4	3	4	2	1		1
Claude Haiku 5.5 (#1) Developed the first vaccine, smallpox, founding the field of immunology. GPT-6 Luna (#1) Pioneered vaccination, establishing immunization as a practical means of preventing infectious disease. Gemini 4 Argon (#1) Pioneered the concept of vaccines by developing the world's first smallpox vaccine. MiniMax M3 (#1) Pioneered vaccination; father of immunology. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#1) Pioneered vaccination and laid the foundation of immunology. Kimi K3 (#2) Created first vaccine, eradicating smallpox and establishing immunization. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#3) Smallpox vaccination founder; launched the entire practice of immunization. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#4) Founder of immunology; smallpox vaccine launched the entire field. GLM-5.3 (#4) Invented vaccination with smallpox; started the entire field.
2	Paul Ehrlich	9/10	4	4	3	1	1	2	1	4		3
Qwen 3.8 Flash (#1) Side-chain antibody theory, humoral immunity foundation, Nobel laureate. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#1) Founded humoral immunity and receptor theory; coined antibody and complement concepts. Kimi K3 (#1) Developed side-chain theory and chemotherapy, earning Nobel Prize. GLM-5.3 (#2) Proposed antibodies, side-chain theory, and humoral immunity. Gemini 4 Argon (#3) Formulated the side-chain theory of antibody formation, laying foundations for humoral immunity. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#3) Developed side-chain theory and advanced immunochemistry. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#4) Formulated side-chain theory of antibodies and pioneered immunological chemotherapy concepts. GPT-6 Luna (#4) Shaped antibody theory and immunochemistry, laying foundations for modern understanding of immune specificity. MiniMax M3 (#4) Pioneered antibody theory and chemotherapy concepts.
3	Louis Pasteur	9/10	2	2	2	6	2	1	5	2		6
GLM-5.3 (#1) Founded germ theory and vaccination; cornerstone of immunology. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#2) Pioneered vaccination principles and attenuated vaccines, including rabies. GPT-6 Luna (#2) Advanced germ theory and developed transformative vaccines, including rabies and anthrax. Gemini 4 Argon (#2) Developed fundamental vaccines for rabies and anthrax, establishing the principle of attenuation. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#2) Vaccinology pioneer; attenuated pathogens and established immunization principles. MiniMax M3 (#2) Developed vaccines and germ theory; transformed immunology. Kimi K3 (#5) Pioneered germ theory and vaccination, founding microbiology and immunology. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#6) Germ theory and vaccines for rabies, anthrax; coined immunity concepts.
4	Ilya Mechnikov	7/10	7	3	4	2		3	3			4
Qwen 3.8 Flash (#2) Discovered phagocytosis and cellular immunity, Nobel co-laureate. GPT-6 Luna (#3) Founded cellular immunology through his discovery of phagocytosis and innate immune defense. GLM-5.3 (#3) Discovered phagocytosis and cellular immunity; Nobel laureate. Kimi K3 (#3) Discovered phagocytosis, foundational for cellular immunity. Gemini 4 Argon (#4) Discovered phagocytes and phagocytosis, establishing the fundamental concept of cellular immunity. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#4) Founded cellular immunology through phagocyte theory. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#7) Discovered phagocytosis, establishing cellular immunity alongside humoral theories.
5	Frank Macfarlane Burnet	9/10	6	5	6	9	8	7	6	10		7
GPT-6 Luna (#5) Developed clonal selection theory, a central framework explaining adaptive immune responses. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#6) Proposed clonal selection theory explaining antibody diversity and acquired tolerance. Gemini 4 Argon (#6) Developed the clonal selection theory and predicted acquired immune tolerance, revolutionizing immunology. Kimi K3 (#6) Proposed clonal selection theory, explaining antibody diversity. GLM-5.3 (#7) Clonal selection theory of acquired immunity; Nobel laureate. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#7) Proposed clonal selection theory of immunity. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#8) Clonal selection theory and self/non-self tolerance; Nobel-laureate conceptual giant. Qwen 3.8 Flash (#9) Clonal selection theory shaped modern adaptive immunity understanding. MiniMax M3 (#10) Proposed clonal selection theory; Nobel laureate.
6	Emil von Behring	4/10	3		5				4			2
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#2) Discovered antitoxins and created serum therapy. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#3) Discovered antitoxins and serum therapy, earning the first Nobel in Physiology or Medicine for immunity. Kimi K3 (#4) Developed antitoxin serum, first Nobel for immunology work. Gemini 4 Argon (#5) Discovered diphtheria antitoxin, demonstrating serum therapy and winning the first Physiology Nobel.
7	Karl Landsteiner	6/10	5			3		5	9	9		5
Qwen 3.8 Flash (#3) Blood groups, Nobel work on serology and hypersensitivity. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#5) Discovered ABO blood groups, enabling safe transfusion and immunohemotology. GLM-5.3 (#5) Discovered blood groups and antibody specificity basics. Nemotron 3.5 Super VL (#5) Discovered blood groups, enabling safe transfusion. Kimi K3 (#9) Discovered blood groups, enabling safe transfusions. MiniMax M3 (#9) Discovered blood groups; advanced antigen-antibody understanding.
8	Peter Medawar	5/10	8	6	7				8	5
MiniMax M3 (#5) Pioneered transplantation immunology; Nobel laureate. GPT-6 Luna (#6) Revealed acquired immune tolerance, helping establish transplantation immunology. Gemini 4 Argon (#7) Discovered acquired immunological tolerance, making modern organ and tissue transplantation possible. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#8) Demonstrated acquired immunological tolerance, explaining transplant rejection.
9	Ralph M. Steinman	6/10		10	10	5	7	9			5
Qwen 3.8 Flash (#5) Discovered dendritic cells, bridging innate and adaptive immunity. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#7) Discovered dendritic cells, central to antigen presentation and vaccine design. GLM-5.3 (#9) Discovered dendritic cells; Nobel laureate. GPT-6 Luna (#10) Discovered dendritic cells, key orchestrators of adaptive immunity. Gemini 4 Argon (#10) Discovered dendritic cells and their unique ability to activate adaptive T-cell immunity.
10	Robert Koch	3/10					4		7	3
MiniMax M3 (#3) Established microbial causes of disease; foundational immunology. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#4) Identified pathogens and tuberculosis immunity; Koch's postulates shaped the field. Kimi K3 (#7) Established postulates for infectious diseases and tuberculin test.
11	Susumu Tonegawa	6/10	10	8	8	8	5	8
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#5) Discovered antibody gene rearrangement, explaining immune diversity. GPT-6 Luna (#8) Explained antibody diversity by demonstrating somatic gene rearrangement. Gemini 4 Argon (#8) Discovered the genetic mechanism that produces vast antibody diversity through gene rearrangement. GLM-5.3 (#8) Solved antibody gene recombination; Nobel laureate. Claude Haiku 5.5 (#10) Discovered somatic recombination generating antibody diversity, a Nobel-winning breakthrough.
12	Niels Kaj Jerne	5/10	9	7			10	6	10
GLM-5.3 (#6) Clonal selection theory and immune network theory; Nobel laureate. GPT-6 Luna (#7) Introduced influential theories of antibody formation and immune-network regulation. DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#10) Network theory and plaque assay; foundational immunology theorist and Nobel laureate.
13	James P. Allison	3/10		9				10			3
Mistral Large 4 (#3) Pioneered immune checkpoint blockade, revolutionizing cancer immunotherapy. GLM-5.3 (#10) Pioneered checkpoint inhibitor cancer immunotherapy; Nobel laureate.
14	Jules Hoffmann	1/10									1
Mistral Large 4 (#1) Co-discovered Toll-like receptors, revealing innate immune recognition mechanisms.
15	Charles Janeway	3/10			9		6				8
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash (#6) Proposed innate immune pattern recognition; shaped modern immunology. Mistral Large 4 (#8) Proposed danger model, fundamentally changing how immunity is understood. Gemini 4 Argon (#9) Revitalized innate immunity research by predicting pattern recognition receptors like Toll-like receptors.

14 lower-scoring picks are not shown; every ballot below lists them in full.

Most divisive

Picks most models listed, at very different positions

Karl Landsteiner#3 for Qwen 3.8 Flash #9 for MiniMax M3
Louis Pasteur#1 for GLM-5.3 #6 for Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Ilya Mechnikov#2 for Qwen 3.8 Flash #7 for Claude Haiku 5.5

Hot takes

Picks that appear on only one ballot

Jules Hoffmann at #1, only Mistral Large 4
Bruce Beutler at #2, only Mistral Large 4
Tasuku Honjo at #4, only Mistral Large 4
Jonas Salk at #6, only MiniMax M3
Shizuo Akira at #6, only Mistral Large 4
Jacques Miller at #7, only Qwen 3.8 Flash
Jules Bordet at #7, only MiniMax M3
Ruslan Medzhitov at #7, only Mistral Large 4
Albert Sabin at #8, only MiniMax M3
Jean Dausset at #8, only Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Shimon Sakaguchi at #9, only Mistral Large 4
Gustavus Hume at #10, only Qwen 3.8 Flash

Every ballot

Hover a pick to find it on the other ballots. Marked picks appear on no other ballot.

Claude Haiku 5.5

Edward Jenner
Louis Pasteur
Emil von Behring
Paul Ehrlich
Karl Landsteiner
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Ilya Mechnikov
Peter Medawar
Niels Kaj Jerne
Susumu Tonegawa

79% with consensus · 88% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff June 2026

GPT-6 Luna

Edward Jenner
Louis Pasteur
Ilya Mechnikov
Paul Ehrlich
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Peter Medawar
Niels Kaj Jerne
Susumu Tonegawa
James P. Allison
Ralph M. Steinman

79% with consensus · 98% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff May 18, 2026

Gemini 4 Argon

Edward Jenner
Louis Pasteur
Paul Ehrlich
Ilya Mechnikov
Emil von Behring
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Peter Medawar
Susumu Tonegawa
Charles Janeway
Ralph M. Steinman

86% with consensus · 100% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff March 2026

Qwen 3.8 Flash

Paul Ehrlich
Ilya Mechnikov
Karl Landsteiner
Edward Jenner
Ralph M. Steinman
Louis Pasteur
Jacques Miller
Susumu Tonegawa
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Gustavus Hume

51% with consensus · 26% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

DeepSeek V4.1 Flash

Paul Ehrlich
Louis Pasteur
Edward Jenner
Robert Koch
Susumu Tonegawa
Charles Janeway
Ralph M. Steinman
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
César Milstein
Niels Kaj Jerne

53% with consensus · 77% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

GLM-5.3

Louis Pasteur
Paul Ehrlich
Ilya Mechnikov
Edward Jenner
Karl Landsteiner
Niels Kaj Jerne
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Susumu Tonegawa
Ralph M. Steinman
James P. Allison

62% with consensus · 85% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Kimi K3

Paul Ehrlich
Edward Jenner
Ilya Mechnikov
Emil von Behring
Louis Pasteur
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Robert Koch
Peter Medawar
Karl Landsteiner
Niels Kaj Jerne

72% with consensus · 47% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

MiniMax M3

Edward Jenner
Louis Pasteur
Robert Koch
Paul Ehrlich
Peter Medawar
Jonas Salk
Jules Bordet
Albert Sabin
Karl Landsteiner
Frank Macfarlane Burnet

65% with consensus · 84% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Mistral Large 4

Jules Hoffmann
Bruce Beutler
James P. Allison
Tasuku Honjo
Ralph M. Steinman
Shizuo Akira
Ruslan Medzhitov
Charles Janeway
Shimon Sakaguchi
Max Delbrück

1% with consensus · 65% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Nemotron 3.5 Super VL

Edward Jenner
Emil von Behring
Paul Ehrlich
Ilya Mechnikov
Karl Landsteiner
Louis Pasteur
Frank Macfarlane Burnet
Jean Dausset
César Milstein
Robert Gallo

76% with consensus · 76% self-consistent · knowledge cutoff not published

Who agrees with whom

Overlap between two models' lists, weighted toward the top · 100 means identical · Color runs from 0 (lightest) to 88 (darkest)

	Claude Haiku 5.5	GPT-6 Luna	Gemini 4 Argon	Qwen 3.8 Flash	DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	GLM-5.3	Kimi K3	MiniMax M3	Mistral Large 4	Nemotron 3.5 Super VL
Claude Haiku 5.5		79	85	37	48	56	60	71	0	79
GPT-6 Luna	79		88	42	50	64	59	72	2	64
Gemini 4 Argon	85	88		42	55	60	66	71	2	75
Qwen 3.8 Flash	37	42	42		58	61	67	26	7	47
DeepSeek V4.1 Flash	48	50	55	58		58	63	55	6	36
GLM-5.3	56	64	60	61	58		57	42	2	49
Kimi K3	60	59	66	67	63	57		45	0	64
MiniMax M3	71	72	71	26	55	42	45		0	53
Mistral Large 4	0	2	2	7	6	2	0	0		0
Nemotron 3.5 Super VL	79	64	75	47	36	49	64	53	0