July 31, 1948
The "Lysenko scientists" routed geneticists, setting back the development of biological science in the USSR by several decades.
A class enemy is always an enemy, whether he is a scientist or not.
(Trofim Lysenko, Pravda, 1935)
This happened on the first day of the "unexpected" August session of scientists at the Lenin All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences. In the center is a report by a biologist and agronomist. Trofim Lysenko, known for his work on vernalization (agricultural techniques for working with winter crops). By that time, classical genetics was already being called "fascist science," and some scientists were repressed (including the academician Nikolai Vavilov, (in which Lysenko was involved).
A true biologist cannot and should not remain silent about the erroneous aspects of Darwin's teachings.
Several months before the session, he complained to Stalin that he had "become hard at work" and that the accusations of "metaphysicians" (as he called genetic scientists) had made him "completely discouraged." Stalin gave the go-ahead for the session, which was prepared in an atmosphere of the utmost secrecy. To "win the elections" in advance, Lysenko secured a "majority" and persuaded Stalin to award his supporters the titles of academicians.
During their speeches, the Lysenkoists hinted at their support for Stalin and directly stated that “the discussion ended back in 1939.”
The debate centered on the central question: can the external environment alter the hereditary traits of a living organism? The "Agromichurinites" argued that it could, while the geneticists argued that it could not. Lysenko based his report on Michurin's teachings.
We cannot wait for favors from nature; take them from her - our task
The Lysenkoists openly stated that their goal was not only practical, but also ideological.
We will continue to expose the Morganists [geneticists] as representatives of a harmful and ideologically alien, pseudoscientific in its essence, direction brought to us from a foreign country.
(Lysenko supporter, Isaac Present)
Around 700 people attended the session. The only one who refused to accept the presidium's decision and was expelled from the party was the geneticist who discovered chemical mutagenesis. Joseph Rapoport. At the session, he recalled the achievements of genetics.
Michurin repeatedly pointed out the potential for widespread application of genetics not only in horticulture but also in crop production. He encouraged young people to study genetics.
We, Soviet geneticists, have discovered chemical agents that allow us to randomly obtain hereditary changes many thousands of times more frequently than was previously possible.
We are on the verge of major discoveries in the field of genetics.
The "Agro-Churinists" won. Session materials containing Lysenko's theses were distributed to educational institutions and businesses. Geneticists were fired or transferred to new positions—around 300 people were persecuted.
Geneticist and Dean of the Faculty of Biology of Moscow State University Sos Alikhanyan At first he supported the “geneticists”, then he retracted his words, but was still fired.
Another geneticist and breeder, Anton Zhebrak, who, even before the session, was accused of servility to the West and brought to a “court of honor,” wrote a public letter of justification.
After it became clear to me that the main provisions of the Michurin direction in Soviet genetics were approved by the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), I, as a party member, do not consider it possible for myself to remain in those positions that are recognized as erroneous by the Central Committee of our party.
Following a similar scenario, physiology, cytology, and virology were soon destroyed in the USSR.
In 1955, the surviving scientists wrote a "letter of the three hundred" to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union criticizing Lysenko's work. The authors denied any connection between Michurin's work and the new "agrobiology" and criticized the agronomic methods of the "Lysenkoites."
As a result of Lysenko's activities, we did not have hybrid corn, the income from the introduction of which, according to the Americans, completely covered all their costs for the production of atomic bombs.
In 1965, a commission of scientists concluded that Lysenko's scientific work was "conducted in an unreliable manner." He was removed from his post as director of the Institute of Genetics.
Today, "Michurin agrobiology" is recognized as pseudoscience in the global scientific community.
