The 100th Anniversary of the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, St. Petersburg State University

At least twice in its history, the Department of Genetics of the St. Petersburg University played a key role in the development of the field of genetics in Russia: first, at the outset of the origins of genetics in the country; and then once again during its comeback after Lysenkoism. At the beginning of the 20th century, the study of genetics in Russia was lagging significantly behind Europe and the United States. The first Russian paper on genetics, “Mendelism or the Theory of Breeding,” was published by Professor Yelly Bogdanov only in 1914 (Bogdanov, 1914), years after Thomas Hunt Morgan and his students had laid the foundation for the chromosome theory of inheritance. This publication is a summary of key achievements and events in science and education that have taken place at the Department of Genetics of the St. Petersburg University over the course of the past 100 years.