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The Formation of T. D. Lysenko's Genetic Theory, 1935-36

SHIN Dong Min

Program in History and Philosophy of Science, Seoul National University

Published: January 1992 · Vol. 14 · pp. 191-222
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Abstract

Through the dispute at the 4th session of the Lenin Academy of Agricultural Sciences (LAAS) in December 1936, T. D. Lysenko's dichotomic schema of bourgeois science of Genetics vs. socialist science of Soviet Darwinism was publicized. This paper attempts to provide basis for understanding the nature of this dispute by examining the course of Lysenko's formation of genetic theory during the period of 1935-36, based on his articles in Agrobiology. I argue that Lysenko could not propose his own theory on genetic phenomena till mid-1935. A compromise with classical genetics, attributable to his lack of interest in genetic phenomena of organism, had been in Lysenko's thought in 1935. Second, Lysenko's genetic theory had been formed on the basis not of experiments on vernalization but of new agricultural techniques, such as heterosis and intravarietal crossing of self-pollinating plants. The schema of 'genetics vs. his own genetic theory' was formed later than the schema of 'bourgeois science vs. socialist science'. Third, it is an oversimplification, therefore, to regard the dispute of 1936 as a result of Lysenko's maneuver, since 1935, for driving out his opponents.