Thoughts in Tangles

Science advances through experimentation, debate, and the free exchange of ideas. History shows that when political ideology overrides scientific integrity, the consequences can be severe. One of the clearest examples of this is Lysenkoism, a pseudoscientific movement led by Trofim Lysenko in the Soviet Union. Instead of promoting progress, Lysenkoism hindered genuine scientific inquiry, caused agricultural failure, and pushed Soviet biological science back by decades. Trofim Lysenko gained prominence in the late 1920s and 1930s by promoting the idea that acquired traits could be inherited, a claim that directly contradicted established principles of Mendelian genetics and Darwinian evolution. Rooted in Lamarckism, his ideas appealed to Joseph Stalin’s regime because they aligned with communist ideology, which emphasized the malleability of nature and society. Lysenko argued that by exposing plants to specific environmental conditions, their offspring would develop favorable traits, al...