title: The consequences of political dictatorship for Russian science.
abstract: The Soviet communist regime had devastating consequences on the state of Russian twentieth century science. Country Communist leaders promoted Trofim Lysenko--an agronomist and keen supporter of the inheritance of acquired characters--and the Soviet government imposed a complete ban on the practice and teaching of genetics, which it condemned as a "bourgeois perversion". Russian science, which had previously flourished, rapidly declined, and many valuable scientific discoveries made by leading Russian geneticists were forgotten.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Department of Biology, George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, MSN 3E1, Fairfax, Virginia 22030, USA. vnsoyfer@gmu.edu
authors.forename: V N
authors.initials: VN
authors.lastname: Soyfer
mesh_terms: D003148:Communism / Q000266:history*; D005823:Genetics / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D012586:Science / Q000266:history; D014586:USSR