Lysenko

Lysenko refers to Trofim Lysenko, a Soviet agronomist and biologist who rose to prominence in the 1930s and 1940s. His theories, collectively known as Lysenkoism, rejected Mendelian genetics and Darwinian evolution in favor of Lamarckian inheritance, the idea that acquired characteristics can be passed down to offspring. Lysenko claimed that traits acquired during an organism's lifetime, such as those gained through environmental exposure or specific agricultural practices, could be inherited. This contradicted the established scientific understanding of genetics at the time.

Lysenko's influence grew significantly under Joseph Stalin's regime. His ideas were promoted as a "proletarian science" that aligned with Soviet ideology, while Western genetics was denounced as "bourgeois" and "reactionary." Lysenkoism became official state policy in the Soviet Union, leading to the persecution and dismissal of scientists who adhered to Mendelian genetics. This scientific repression had devastating consequences for Soviet biology and agriculture. Research in genetics was stifled, and many scientists were imprisoned or executed. Lysenko's agricultural methods, often based on his inheritance theories, also proved unsuccessful and contributed to crop failures.

After Stalin's death, Lysenko's influence began to wane, and his theories were gradually discredited. By the 1960s, Lysenkoism had been largely abandoned in the Soviet Union, and traditional genetics was reinstated. However, the legacy of Lysenkoism serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of politicizing science and the suppression of scientific inquiry.