Ogden C. Bruton (1908–2003) documented the first description of an immunodeficiency disease describing the failure of a male child to produce antibody. Because inheritance of this condition is X-linked and is characterized by the absence of immunoglobulin in the serum (agammaglobulinemia), it was called Bruton’s X-linked agammaglobulinemia.
Frank MacFarlane Burnet (1899–1985) proposed the first generally accepted clonal selection hypothesis of adaptive immunity.
Robin Coombs (1921–2006) first developed anti-immunoglobulin antibodies to detect the antibodies that cause hemolytic disease of the newborn. The test for this disease is still called the Coombs test.
Jean Dausset (1916–2009) was an early pioneer in the study of the human major histocompatibility complex or HLA.
Peter Doherty (1940–) and Rolf Zinkernagel (1944–) showed that antigen recognition by T cells is MHC-restricted, thereby establishing the biological role of the proteins encoded by the major histocompatibility complex and leading to an understanding of antigen processing and its importance in the recognition of antigen by T cells.
Gerald Edelman (1929–2014) made crucial discoveries about the structure of immunoglobulins, including the first complete sequence of an antibody molecule.
Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915) was an early champion of humoral theories of immunity, and proposed a famous side-chain theory of antibody formation that bears a striking resemblance to current thinking about surface receptors.
James Gowans (1924–) discovered that adaptive immunity is mediated by lymphocytes, focusing the attention of immunologists on these small cells.
Jules Hoffman (1941–) discovered the role of the Toll-like receptor in innate immunity in Drosophila melanogaster.
Michael Heidelberger (1888–1991) developed the quantitative precipitin assay, ushering in the era of quantitative immunochemistry.
Charles A. Janeway, Jr. (1945–2003) recognized the importance of co-stimulation for initiating adaptive immune responses. He predicted the existence of receptors of the innate immune system that would recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns and would signal activation of the adaptive immune system. His laboratory discovered the first mammalian Toll-like receptor that had this function. He was also the principal original author of this textbook.
Edward Jenner (1749–1823) described the successful protection of humans against smallpox infection by vaccination with cowpox or vaccinia virus. This founded the field of immunology.
Niels Jerne (1911–1994) developed the hemolytic plaque assay and several important immunological theories, including an early version of clonal selection, a prediction that lymphocyte receptors would be inherently biased to MHC recognition, and the idiotype network.
Shibasaburo Kitasato (1852–1931) discovered antibodies in collaboration with Emil von Behring.
Robert Koch (1843–1910) defined the criteria needed to characterize an infectious disease, known as Koch’s postulates.
Georges Kler (1946–1995) pioneered monoclonal antibody production from hybrid antibody-forming cells with César Milstein.
Karl Landsteiner (1868–1943) discovered the ABO blood group antigens. He also carried out detailed studies of the specificity of antibody binding using haptens as model antigens.
Peter Medawar (1915–1987) used skin grafts to show that tolerance is an acquired characteristic of lymphoid cells, a key feature of clonal selection theory.