Genetics, society and ethics - The Lysenko Affair

This first week, lets start of with a real life story you may or may not be aware of. I thought I will start with this because it illustrates two most fundamental principles of science.

At the peak of its powers, Soviet Russia supported several scientific endeavors aimed towards improving society and the doctrine of communism itself. The Lysenko affair involved one such Soviet attempt to meddle with science in an effort to promote its communist manifesto. Trofim Denisovich Lysenko was a biologist who believed acquired characteristics could be inherited, a fundamentally erroneous theory in genetics. His Soviet masters, however, liked the idea. Stalin and later, Krushchev aggressively pursued "Lysenkoism" and put Lysenko in charge of their crop yield improvement programmes. Lysenko's gain was Vavilov's loss. Nikolai Vavilov was an eminent genetics expert who did not prescribe to Lysenko's views. Vavilov was imprisoned and later died in prison. For the better part of 30 years, genetics in Russia went down a blind alley. It was only after Krushchev's reign ended that Lysenko's pseudoscience was recognized and abandoned.

This is one example of political influence of scientific research that led to great loss for society. Political interest in science, however, is not always a bad thing. The Human Genome Project would never have proceeded at the speed and efficiency with which it did, if it were not for political and societal backing. The Lysenko affair should remind us that "science, to be effective, must be in a climate of open inquiry and free expression of ideas". The message here is that politicians must support research done in an open scientific atmosphere by researchers who have no vested political interest. The scientific method must not be subverted by political bullies. This is the first principle I wanted to discuss - the independence of science. The second priciple will be discussed in my next post.

Acknowledgment:
Priniples of Genetics, 7th edition, Robert H. Tamarin.