The Disastrous Effects of Lysenkoism on Soviet Agriculture
Overview
The disastrous effects of Lysenkoism, a term used to describe the impact of Trofim Denisovich Lysenko's (1898-1976) influence upon science and agriculture in the Soviet Union during the first half of the 20th century, darkly illustrates the disastrous intrusion of politics and ideology into the affairs of science. Beyond a mere rejection of nearly a century of advancements in genetics, Lysenkoism—at a minimum—made worse the famine and deprivations facing Soviet citizens. Moreover, Lysenkoism brought repression and persecution of scientists who dared oppose Lysenko's pseudoscientific doctrines.
Background
Ten years after the 1917 Revolution in Russia, a plant-breeder in the struggling Soviet Union named Trofim Denisovich Lysenko observed that pea seeds germinated faster when maintained at low temperatures. Instead of concluding that the plant's ability to respond flexibly to temperature variations was a natural characteristic, Lysenko erroneously concluded that the low temperature forced its seeds to alter their species.
Lysenko's conclusions were based upon, and profoundly influenced by, the teachings of Russian horticulturist I.V. Michurin (1855-1935), who was a holdover proponent of the discredited Larmarckian theory of evolution by acquired characteristics (i.e., that organisms evolved through the acquisition of traits that they needed and used).
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