Climate change activist Greta Thunberg has been named one of the ten most influential people in science in 2019 by the journal Nature.

The 16 year old has been named alongside a neurologist who brought pig brains back to life and a palaeontologist who shook up humanity's family tree.

The prestigious British science journal, which celebrated its 150th anniversary this year, says the Swedish campaigner 'channelled the rage of a generation'.

She had outshone scientists who couldn't 'galvanise global attention' the way she did and many are cheering her along, according to Nature.

The ten most influential list also includes a physicist building quantum computers, a biologist editing genes in adult humans and a microbiologist fighting Ebola.

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Climate change activist Greta Thunberg - pictured here during a climate rally in Italy - has been named one of the ten people who mattered most in science this year by the journal Nature

NATURE'S TEN MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN SCIENCE IN 2019 Greta Thunberg

Ricardo Galvão

Sandra Díaz

Victoria Kaspi

Nenad Sestan

Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum

Hongkui Deng

Yohannes Haile-Selassie

John Martinis

Wendy Rogers SOURCE: Nature Advertisement

Nature says Thunberg is on the list due to the way she is able to focus attention on how nations’ weak efforts to slow global warming are threatening the planet — and generations to come.

'Some may wonder why a teenage girl should get more credit and attention for publicly lamenting a well known dilemma than most climate researchers get for years of hard work and effort', said Climate scientist Professor Sonia Seneviratne.

'She is candid and her outrage unvarnished - and that is a powerful cocktail'.

Last week Thunberg appeared on the front cover of Time magazine after being named their 'person of the year for 2019'.

Professor Seneviratne, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, said scientists don't often dare to express the truth in such heartfelt simplicity.

'What she has achieved should motivate climate researchers to carry on with their science despite slow political action', she said.

Angela Ledford Anderson, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Thunberg inspired scientists, activists and policymakers.

'But her biggest influence may be on the next generation, inspiring many to become scientists themselves'.

Thunberg came to fame for her lone protests outside the Swedish parliament calling on the government to enact policies to fight climate change.

What began as a lone fight spread all over the world and involved more than 100,000 schoolchildren in 112 different countries.

The movement was called Fridays For Future and consisted of students taking every Friday off to demand government action on the climate issue.

Greta has Asperger's and ADHD but has often spoken on how her conditions have acted as a motivator instead of a source of depression, which she said they once were.

Brazilian physicist Ricardo Galvao - pictured - captured global attention when he challenged President Jair Bolsonaro for undermining a report of sharply rising deforestation rates in the Amazon

From left are Austin Fowler, Rami Barends, John Martinis and Julian Kelly. Martins is on the list of ten from Nature for his work with a team that created the first quantum computer to complete a calculation faster than a traditional computer

Others on the annual list include Professor Nenad Sestan who challenged thinking about the border between life and death by reviving the brains of dead pigs.

Another was Ethiopian palaeontologist Dr Yohannes Haile-Selassie for his discovery of a remarkably preserved 3.8 million year old skull from Australopithecus anamensis - the oldest and most elusive human relative.

NATURE'S PEOPLE TO WATCH IN 2020 António Guterres Secretary-general, United Nations

Secretary-general, United Nations Denis Rebrikov Kulakov National Medical Research Center, Moscow

National Medical Research Center, Moscow Geng Meiyu Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, China

Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, China Mariya Gabriel European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Markus Rex Alfred Wegener Institute, Germany SOURCE: Nature Advertisement

Nature's chief features editor Rich Monastersky said: 'Our list explores some of the year's most important moments in science by highlighting people who had key roles.

'These stories range from the first demonstration of a quantum computer outperforming a conventional machine to efforts to combat climate change, deforestation and an Ebola epidemic in Africa.'

Also on the list is Brazilian physicist Ricardo Galvao who captured global attention when he challenged President Jair Bolsonaro for undermining a report of sharply rising deforestation rates in the Amazon.

Ecologist Sandra Diaz made it to the list as she co-chaired a panel of 145 experts that produced the most authoritative assessment yet of Earth's biodiversity and reported that one million species are headed toward extinction.

Astrophysicist Victoria Kaspi helped give a unique telescope in Canada the ability to collect the best data yet on fast radio bursts.

Ecologist Sandra Diaz, left, made it to the list as she co-chaired a panel of 145 experts that produced the most authoritative assessment yet of Earth's biodiversity and reported that one million species are headed toward extinction. Right, Professor Nenad Sestan from the Yale School of Medicine challenged thinking about the border between life and death by reviving the brains of dead pigs

Microbiologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum who is leading his country's efforts In the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight the ongoing Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 2,200 people is also amongst the ten.

Stem-cell biologist Hongkui Deng is included after becoming the first to publish the results of a clinical trial using CRISPR gene-editing technology to modify cells in an adult human being.

Physicist John Martinis passed a long-anticipated milestone when he reported his team's quantum computer could carry out a calculation faster than the best conventional computer.

Ethicist Wendy Rogers, who revealed evidence that some organ transplants in China might have proceeded without the consent of the donors, is also on the list.

'Nature's 10 is not an award or a list of the most important people in science', said Mr Monastersky.

'Rather, the stories of these ten people illuminate some of the most significant scientific events of 2019 across a range of issues spanning from our deep origins to the future of the world.'

Microbiologist Jean-Jacques Muyembe Tamfum who is leading his country's efforts In the Democratic Republic of the Congo to fight the ongoing Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 2,200 people is also amongst the ten

Ethiopian palaeontologist Dr Yohannes Haile-Selassie discovered a remarkably well preserved 3.8 million year old skull from Australopithecus anamensis - the oldest and most elusive human relative.

The journal has also published a list of 'key people' to watch in the world of science in 2020 including the United Nations Secretary-general António Guterres.

'The Portuguese diplomat has pushed for aggressive action on global warming, and that advocacy could prove crucial as nations meet in 2020 to update their pledges under the 2015 Paris climate agreement', the journal writes.

They are also watching Geng Meiyu from the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, China whose team discovered a compound that has been approved in China to treat Alzheimer’s disease.

Also on their watch list are Denis Rebrikov Kulakov from the National Medical Research Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology in Moscow who is planning to produce gene-edited babies.