Heredity and Its Variability

by Trofim Lysenko

The classic of Stalinist aberrant genetic theory, horticulturist Lysenko rejected orthodox genetics in favor of the theories of those of the Russian horticulturist I. V. Michurin (d. 1935). Among his theories were that wheat raised under certain conditions produce seeds of rye and that theoretical biology must be fused with Soviet agricultural practice. He was the total autocrat of Soviet biology from 1948 through 1953, and believed that through inherited characteristics Stalinism would create a 'new man'. Lysenko held that heredity can be changed by husbandry, a theory that had disastrous impact on Soviet agriculture. He was dismissed from his post as director of the Soviet Institute of Genetics.

136 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

About the author

Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (Russian: Трофи́м Дени́сович Лысе́нко, Ukrainian: Трохи́м Дени́сович Лисе́нко) was a geneticist, agronomist and biologist in the Soviet Union predominantly labelled in the west as a purveryor of “pseudoscience”. A more proportioned view of his achievements has gradually emerged. They include confirmation of his experimental findings concerning horizontal (or lateral) gene transfer, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, vernalization of wheat seed and the now prevailing agronomic practice of planting grain crops into stubble, termed no-till, in the U. S.