Lysenko's contributions to biology and his tragedies.

Trofim Denisovich Lysenko's life and work have been much analyzed and discussed in the world's literature. It is well known that Lysenko is notorious and has been regarded as a charlatan. Less well known is that he once made greater contributions to Biology and has been misunderstood in some aspects. In this paper, Lysenko s contributions to plant physiology, genetics, agro-biology and evolutionary biology are briefly reviewed. His tragedies and mistakes, such as mixing science and politics, denying the existence of genes, failing to build up suitable scientific collectives for the metabolism-biochemical studies of heredity, as well as his theoretical one-sidedness, are also discussed, thus reconsidering the case of Lysenko from a comprehensive and objective viewpoint.     

A “second front” in Soviet genetics: The international dimension of the Lysenko controversy, 1944–1947

Concluding Remarks While the simple historical view has pictured the Lysenko controversy as an uninterrupted series of Lysenko's victories-beginning with the 1936 discussion, and culminating in the infamous August 1948 meeting of the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences, when genetics was officially abolished in the Soviet Union-it was certainly more complex, as recognized by such serious historians as David Joravsky and Mark Adams. As we have seen, the roles the competitors assumed in 1945–47 were the reverse of those they assumed in the 1930s: the geneticists managed to gain the offensive, and Lysenko was forced to defend his position.This episode suggests that the Communist Party leadership probably did not have a special bias against genetics, nor a particular preference toward Lysenko at that time. The actual decisions of the Party apparatus on particular science policies were based upon the current priorities of general foreign and domestic policies, rather than upon an orthodox Party line in esoteric scientific questions. It is clear and has been recognized by some historians that the Soviet scientific community was not a passive, monolithic object of the manipulation, control, and repression exercised by the Communist Party leadership; various groups within the Soviet scientific community actively exploited every opportunity provided by the Party's policies to achieve their own objectives.The Lysenko controversy illustrates the profound impact of international events on Soviet science and suggests that its history cannot be understood as a result of exclusively domestic affairs, but should be explicated within a broader framework of interaction between Soviet domestic and international policies and between the Soviet and Western scientific communities. As we have seen, one of the major causes of the geneticists' success in the postwar struggle with Lysenkoists was the shift of Soviet foreign policies toward internationalism stimulated by the wartime alliance between the Big Three. This suggests that the so-called death of genetics in the Soviet Union in August 1948 was also the result of another dramatic shift in the international situation: the climax of the Cold War confrontation between former allies in the summer of 1948, which marked the final division of postwar Europe and the world into two opposing camps, East and West.     

Valentin Sergeevich Kirpichnikov: on the 100th anniversary of his birth (1908-1991)

Valentin Sergeevich Kirpichnikov is an outstanding Russian biologist, geneticist, and evolutionist. In his work, the true interest to the theory of evolution was harmoniously combined with long-term successful research into fish genetics and breeding. In 1987, Kirpichnikov published a fundamental treatise entitled "Fish Genetics and Breeding," which was immediately translated into English, German, and Japanese and still remains the most comprehensive handbook in this field. The authority of Kirpichnikov was confirmed by his election to the International Association of Aquaculture and an expert of the leading international organization on food and agriculture, FAO, with the United Nations. During the hard years in the history of Soviet biology, the courage and fidelity to the principles in defending the scientific biology and opposing Lysenko's obscurantism won Valentin Sergeevich the deserved name of a "knight of science". His mode of speech at the seminars and in discussions was unhurried, calm, and fitting. Yet especially important moments supplemented his baritone with hard metal modulations, which revealed the concealed passion and conviction in the defended truth.     

How did East German genetics avoid Lysenkoism?

Lysenkoism gained favour in the Soviet Union during the 1930s and 1940s, replacing mendelian genetics. Opponents of Lysenko were dismissed from their jobs, imprisoned and, not infrequently, died. After World War II in some of the East European Soviet satellite states, Lysenkoism became the official genetics supported by the communist authorities, and thus, genetics and biology were set back many years. Yet the uptake of Lysenkoism was not uniform in the Eastern Bloc. The former East Germany (GDR) mostly escaped its influence, owing to the contribution of a few brave individuals and the fact that the country had an open border with the West (West Berlin).     

Light-driven quinone reduction in heliobacterial membranes

Vyacheslav Vasilevich (V.V.) Klimov (or Slava, as most of us called him) was born on January 12, 1945 and passed away on May 9, 2017. He began his scientific career at the Bach Institute of Biochemistry of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Akademy Nauk (AN) SSSR), Moscow, Russia, and then, he was associated with the Institute of Photosynthesis, Pushchino, Moscow Region, for about 50 years. He worked in the field of biochemistry and biophysics of photosynthesis. He is known for his studies on the molecular organization of photosystem II (PSII). He was an eminent scientist in the field of photobiology, a well-respected professor, and, above all, an outstanding researcher. Further, he was one of the founding members of the Institute of Photosynthesis in Pushchino, Russia. To most, Slava Klimov was a great human being. He was one of the pioneers of research on the understanding of the mechanism of light energy conversion and of water oxidation in photosynthesis. Slava had many collaborations all over the world, and he is (and will be) very much missed by the scientific community and friends in Russia as well as around the World. We present here a brief biography and some comments on his research in photosynthesis. We remember him as a friendly and enthusiastic person who had an unflagging curiosity and energy to conduct outstanding research in many aspects of photosynthesis, especially that related to PSII.     

Defending Scientific Freedom and Democracy: The Genetics Society of America’s Response to Lysenko

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the leaders of the Genetics Society of America (GSA) struggled to find an appropriate group response to Trofim Lysenko’s scientific claims and the Soviet treatment of geneticists. Although some of the leaders of the GSA favored a swift, critical response, procedural and ideological obstacles prevented them from following this path. Concerned about establishing scientific orthodoxy on one hand and politicizing the content of their science on the other, these American geneticists drew on democratic language and concepts as they engaged in this political issue. The relatively weak statements that did emerge from the GSA attracted little attention in the scientific or popular press. The intensely politicized atmosphere of American science complicated the GSA’s task, as domestic concerns about protecting democracy were beginning to constrain academic freedom. In the context of American Cold War culture, Lysenko became just one example of the dangers the Cold War world presented to scientific freedom.     

Zhang Wentang北大核心CSCD

Although the times through which he lived were uncertain,at times cruel and predominantly harsh,the life of Zhang Wentang was one of pure scientific endeavour.The many obstacles which presented themselves during his lifetime would have discouraged and defeated most good men.It is the ultimate tribute to the man that he overcame so much hardship in his pursuit of knowledge and yet remained steadfastly focussed on his predetermined aims.While many good strong men deliver outstanding lifetime contributions from well supported positions it is often those who struggle most during their lives and rise above the drawbacks who deserve our greatest admiration — one such man was Zhang Wentang.     

Lysenkoism in Poland

This article describes the impact of, and response to, Trofim D. Lysenko’s anti-genetics campaign in Poland between the years 1949 and 1956. It focuses particularly upon the response of three individuals – Teodor Marchlewski, Wac?aw Gajewski, and Aleksandra Putrament – who were central figures in the controversy in Poland. In addition to examining the responses and motivations of these individuals, the article also addresses the question of why the Lysenko-era in Poland ended relatively earlier than in neighboring Soviet-allied states such as Hungary, East Germany or Czechoslovakia, as well as 9?years before Lysenko was forced from power in the USSR. I argue that conditions specific to Polish politics and Poland’s relationship with the Soviet Union, during the Thaw after Stalin’s death, provided the opponents of “Lysenkoism” in Poland with an opportunity to criticize Lysenko, and restore Polish genetics. These conditions are linked to the near-revolution in Poland following the strike in Poznan in June, 1956, and successful transition of power between Edward Ochab and W?adys?aw Gomu?ka the following October.     

The Cold War Context of the Golden Jubilee,Or, Why We Think of Mendel as the Father of Genetics

In September 1950, the Genetics Society of America (GSA) dedicated its annual meeting to a "Golden Jubilee of Genetics" that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the rediscovery of Mendel's work. This program, originally intended as a small ceremony attached to the coattails of the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) meeting, turned into a publicity juggernaut that generated coverage on Mendel and the accomplishments of Western genetics in countless newspapers and radio broadcasts. The Golden Jubilee merits historical attention as both an intriguing instance of scientific commemoration and as an early example of Cold War political theatre. Instead of condemning either Lysenko or Soviet genetics, the Golden Jubilee would celebrate Mendel - and, not coincidentally, the practical achievements in plant and animal breeding his work had made possible. The American geneticists' focus on the achievements of Western genetics as both practical and theoretical, international, and, above all, non-ideological and non-controversial, was fully intended to demonstrate the success of the Western model of science to both the American public and scientists abroad at a key transition point in the Cold War. An implicit part of this article's argument, therefore, is the pervasive impact of the Cold War in unanticipated corners of postwar scientific culture.     

Editorial

New Phytologist welcomes this month, and introduces, its new Managing Editor, Jonathan Ingram. He comes to New Phytologist from Elsevier Science's Trends in Plant Science , where he has worked as Assistant Editor since the highly successful launch of that magazine in January 1996.
Jonathan's introduction to plant science, at Oxford over 10 years ago, was through the excellent tuition of Vernon Butt in a traditional botany degree. He then took a DPhil with Andrew Smith and Chris Leaver, learning biochemical and molecular research methods while studying malate decarboxylation associated with Crassulacean acid metabolism. He subsequently moved to the Max Planck Institute for Breeding Research in Cologne, Germany, where he did research with Dorothea Bartels into the molecular mechanism of drought tolerance in the resurrection plant Craterostigma plantagineum , specifically the role of sucrose-phosphate synthase.
These are challenging times in science publishing, particularly as technological advances force rapid change, but there are also many exciting new opportunities. Jonathan's experience and background will help New Phytologist remain in the vanguard of plant journals, while maintaining its traditions of scientific excellence and friendly service to authors and readers, traditions carefully nurtured by his predecessor David Stribley.
We wish David improved health and a happy retirement.     

Ibn al-Nafis, the pulmonary circulation, and the Islamic Golden Age

Ibn al-Nafis (1213-1288) was an Arab physician who made several important contributions to the early knowledge of the pulmonary circulation. He was the first person to challenge the long-held contention of the Galen School that blood could pass through the cardiac interventricular septum, and in keeping with this he believed that all the blood that reached the left ventricle passed through the lung. He also stated that there must be small communications or pores (manafidh in Arabic) between the pulmonary artery and vein, a prediction that preceded by 400 years the discovery of the pulmonary capillaries by Marcello Malpighi. Ibn al-Nafis and another eminent physiologist of the period, Avicenna (ca. 980-1037), belong to the long period between the enormously influential school of Galen in the 2nd century, and the European scientific Renaissance in the 16th century. This is an epoch often given little attention by physiologists but is known to some historians as the Islamic Golden Age. Its importance is briefly discussed here.     

School of the school of Leon Abgarovich Orbeli

In 2007, L. A. Orbeli would have been 125. He was distinguished by extremely wide scientific interrests; he created one of the most numerous and fruitful scientific schools. He authored prominent achievements in physiology of autonomic nervous system, evolutionary physiology, sensory physiology, renal physiology, physiology of underwater labor. Orbeli paid much attention to the scientific-organizational activity, he was academician-secretary of the Division of Biological Sciences of the USSR Academy of Sciences, President of the Society of Physiologists, Biochemists and Pharmacologists, Editor-in-Chief of the USSR Physiological Journal, etc. Principles of the scientific scholl founded by Orbeli are service to science and society, propity to scientific ethics, humanity.     

Some Notes on David Nicholson's Contributions to Modelling Adsorption

Abstract

During his career David has built up a very large number of scientific contacts throughout the world. Many of these became friends and collaborators. Imperial College was, of course, a good place to start from: R.M. Barrer was from New Zealand and John Petropoulos from Greece. Subsequently, he collaborated with scientists from other European Union countries, especially from France and Germany as well as more researchers from Greece. He also made many contacts in the US. A very important example was the sabbatical he had with W.A. Steele at Penn State, where he made his first big incursion into intermolecular forces. He also had very useful exchanges of visits with K.E. Gubbins, which led to joint work. More recently he developed working relationships with scientists from Japan and from South Korea. The scientific value of these contacts may be gauged from the large number of his publications, which involve researchers from these countries as co-authors. However, I am sure the readiness with which overseas researchers participated was in part also due to the friendly and helpful manner with which David received them here.     

Linnaeus,animals and man*

Linnaeus is often undervalued as a zoologist. His importance lies not only in the introduction of binomial nomenclature and his Systema Naturae. As a systematist he divided the insects into the groups, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera and Aptera. His programme, as expressed in his Methodus in Systema Naturae (1st ed.) is astounding in its biological manysidedness. He was before his time in many respects: he wrote and lectured upon bird migration, biological control of insects with their parasites or predators, protective mimicry, the struggle by all organisms for survival, contagious diseases as well as fermentation due to small living particles. He was the first to call attention to the close relationship between man and the anthropoid apes.     

How to (or not to) communicate science

Protagonists for 'the public understanding of science' still sometimes fail to recognize that there is also a need for 'the scientists' understanding of the public' and that for most of science most of the time we are all public. 'Science' is communicated to 'the public' through popular books, museums, TV, the Internet, but far too often the present state of scientific belief is presented uncritically as the onward march of truth as discovered by Euro-American males. This has contributed to a widespread public concern, if not mistrust, in many areas of science, not least genetics and neuroscience. Although researchers often criticize the media for misrepresenting their work, the hype and simplifications often begin with the press releases put out by the researchers, their institutions and the scientific journals themselves. I conclude by looking more optimistically at the ways in which, by bringing natural science into theatre, novels and other art forms, the fragmentation of our culture may be diminished.     

Obituary Fumio Oosawa 1922–2019

Prof. Fumio Oosawa passed away in Nagoya on March 4, 2019, at the age of 96. As two of his former students we, like a great many scientists both in Japan and around the world, were much inspired and influenced by him. We have, at the request of the journal, penned this note to describe some of his major scientific contributions and also provide the readers of Biophysical Reviews with an idea of the remarkable personality and character traits that he displayed throughout his life. Fumio Oosawa (or Oosawa-san as he preferred to be called) was a physicist who initially entered the area of biophysics through studies in the field of condensed matter phenomena. Although a remarkable human being, he was, first and foremost, one of the leading scientists of his generation, making many original contributions that could, by any measure, be described as scientific breakthroughs. Therefore, before providing a short biography of his life in and around science, we thought it most appropriate to begin this Letter by first summarizing his major scientific contributions.     

C.D. Darlington and the British and American reaction to Lysenko and the Soviet conception of science

The Anglo-American reaction to the Lysenkoaffair has been treated primarily either fromthe point of view of the political Right orLeft, or as a consequence of post-WWIIinternational relations. None of the accountshave considered the central role of the Britishcytogeneticist and evolutionist C.D.Darlington. This article considers Darlington'srole, and illustrates how, through an analysisof his divergent reaction, it becomes possibleto see the response to Lysenko as a reflectionof internal scientific and political debatesconcerning the planning, funding, utility, andfreedom of science in post-war Britain.     

Robert Chambers and Thomas Henry Huxley, Science Correspondents: The Popularization and Dissemination of Nineteenth Century Natural Science

Robert Chambers and Thomas Henry Huxley helped popularize science by writing for general interest publications when science was becoming increasingly professionalized. A non-professional, Chambers used his family-owned Chambers' Edinburgh Journal to report on scientific discoveries, giving his audience access to ideas that were only available to scientists who regularly attended professional meetings or read published transactions of such forums. He had no formal training in the sciences and little interest in advancing the professional status of scientists; his course of action was determined by his disability and interest in scientific phenomena. His skillful reporting enabled readers to learn how the ideas that flowed from scientific innovation affected their lives, and his series of article in the Journal presenting his rudimentary ideas on evolution, served as a prelude to his important popular work, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation. Huxley, an example of the new professional class of scientists, defended science and evolution from attacks by religious spokesmen and other opponents of evolution, informing the British public about science through his lectures and articles in such publications as Nineteenth Century. He understood that by popularizing scientific information, he could effectively challenge the old Tory establishment -- with its orthodox religious and political views -- and promote the ideas of the new class of professional scientists. In attempting to transform British society, he frequently came in conflict with theologians and others on issues in which science and religion seemed to contradict each other but refused to discuss matters of science with non-professionals like Chambers, whose popular writing struck a more resonant chord with working class readers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

On heterochrony: birthday gifts to Stalin, 1949

Gift relations have been traditionally theorized as antinomial to modernity or, within modernity, in the spheres of the personal relations and ideologies of altruism which dwell on the contrast with commodity and often cast themselves as residual, 'traditional' domains. This article explores claims to modernity that were made by public gift-giving to a modern head of state. It examines birthday gifts to the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin that he received from both his Soviet subjects and international leaders and movements and that were put on public display in 1949-53 in the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow. This article interprets gift-giving to Stalin as a dramatic example of socialist intervention in the modernist temporality, and it theorizes the notions of time that were culturally constructed through the socialist state gift economy. This article reflects part of an ongoing research project on gift-giving to Soviet leaders. It is based on fieldwork, oral-historical and archival research with designers, artisans, and ordinary citizens who were involved in the production of the gift items, as well as with curators and other specialists involved in this exhibition and in preservation of these gifts in different Russian state museums.     

Neuroscience was not even a word: an interview with Floyd Bloom

Floyd Bloom says that he grew up, surrounded by doctors and pills, in a drug store in Dallas, where his father and uncles were pharmacists. He is a natural storyteller, readily recalling the people and events that have shaped his career. His narrative skills were apparent as early as high school, where he was encouraged, partially on the basis of aptitude tests, to pursue a career in journalism or public relations, and to stay away from hard subjects like math and science. In college, he majored in German literature, although he pursued premedical studies in accordance with his father's wishes. During his medical school and residency experiences in St. Louis, he recounts, he always attempted to carry in his mind an organized way of explaining his academic and clinical activities to the professors and attending physicians that might quiz him. His subsequent research into the central nervous system similarly benefited from his ability not only to anticipate and formulate questions, the answers to which often required the development of new methods, technologies, and alliances, but also to place his findings in novel contexts where they could be conceptually appreciated and utilized. The prospect of telling good scientific stories was one of the factors that later drew Bloom to the position of Editor-in-Chief of Science magazine (1995-2000). While there, he was instrumental in widening the contexts in which the magazine presents science, and in shaping the ways that scientific information is electronically disseminated across the globe. Currently on sabbatical from Scripps, Floyd Bloom continues to explore, as CEO of a startup company in La Jolla, the entrepreneurial contexts in which his own research can be applied.