Nikolai Koltsov
Encyclopedia
Nikolai Konstantinovich Koltsov was a Russian biologist. He was one of the creators of modern genetics. Nikolai Koltsov was a teacher of Nikolay Timofeeff-Ressovsky
.
. He was a member of the Agricultural Academy (VASKhNIL
).
and vertebrate
anatomy
. In 1903 Koltsov proposed that the shape of cells was determined by a network of tubules which he termed the cytoskeleton
. In 1927 Kolstov proposed that inherited traits would be inherited via a "giant hereditary molecule" which would be made up of "two mirror strands that would replicate in a semi-conservative fashion using each strand as a template". These ideas were confirmed to have been accurate in 1953 when James D. Watson
and Francis Crick
described the structure of DNA
. Watson and Crick had apparently not heard of Koltsov. US geneticist Richard Goldschmidt
wrote about him: "There was the brilliant Nikolai Koltsov, probably the best Russian zoologist of the last generation, an enviable, unbelievably cultured, clear-thinking scholar, admired by everybody who knew him"
in 1920. Prosecutor Nikolai Krylenko
demanded the death sentence for Koltsov (67 of around 1000 arrested people were executed). However, after a personal appeal to Vladimir Lenin
by Maxim Gorky
Koltsov was released and was restored to his position as the head of the Koltsov Institute of Experimental Biology.
published a series of propaganda articles against Nikolai Koltsov and Nikolai Vavilov
. They wrote: "The Institute of Genetics of the Academy of Sciences not only did not criticize Professor Koltsov's fascistic nonsense, but even did not dissociate itself from his "theories" which support the racial theories of fascists". His death in 1940 was claimed to have been due to a stroke. However, "the biochemist Ilya Zbarsky revealed that the unexpected death of Koltsov was a result of his poisoning by the NKVD
", the secret police of the Soviet Union. The same day his wife committed suicide
Nikolay Timofeeff-Ressovsky
Nikolaj Vladimirovich Timofeev-Resovskij was a Soviet biologist. He conducted research in radiation genetics, experimental population genetics, and microevolution...
.
Scientific career
He graduated from Moscow University in 1894 and was a professor there (1895-1911). He established and directed the Institute of Experimental Biology in the middle of 1917, just before the October revolutionOctober Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
. He was a member of the Agricultural Academy (VASKhNIL
VASKhNIL
VASKhNIL was the All-Union Academy of Agricultural Sciences of the Soviet Union...
).
Research
Nikolai Koltsov worked on cytologyCell biology
Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
and vertebrate
Vertebrate
Vertebrates are animals that are members of the subphylum Vertebrata . Vertebrates are the largest group of chordates, with currently about 58,000 species described. Vertebrates include the jawless fishes, bony fishes, sharks and rays, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and birds...
anatomy
Anatomy
Anatomy is a branch of biology and medicine that is the consideration of the structure of living things. It is a general term that includes human anatomy, animal anatomy , and plant anatomy...
. In 1903 Koltsov proposed that the shape of cells was determined by a network of tubules which he termed the cytoskeleton
Cytoskeleton
The cytoskeleton is a cellular "scaffolding" or "skeleton" contained within a cell's cytoplasm and is made out of protein. The cytoskeleton is present in all cells; it was once thought to be unique to eukaryotes, but recent research has identified the prokaryotic cytoskeleton...
. In 1927 Kolstov proposed that inherited traits would be inherited via a "giant hereditary molecule" which would be made up of "two mirror strands that would replicate in a semi-conservative fashion using each strand as a template". These ideas were confirmed to have been accurate in 1953 when James D. Watson
James D. Watson
James Dewey Watson is an American molecular biologist, geneticist, and zoologist, best known as one of the co-discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953 with Francis Crick...
and Francis Crick
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick OM FRS was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist, and most noted for being one of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson...
described the structure of DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
. Watson and Crick had apparently not heard of Koltsov. US geneticist Richard Goldschmidt
Richard Goldschmidt
Richard Benedict Goldschmidt was a German-born American geneticist. He is considered the first to integrate genetics, development, and evolution. He pioneered understanding of reaction norms, genetic assimilation, dynamical genetics, sex determination, and heterochrony...
wrote about him: "There was the brilliant Nikolai Koltsov, probably the best Russian zoologist of the last generation, an enviable, unbelievably cultured, clear-thinking scholar, admired by everybody who knew him"
Arrest and trial in 1920
Koltsov was arrested as a member of the non-existent "anti-Soviet Tactical Center" invented by the VCheKaCheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
in 1920. Prosecutor Nikolai Krylenko
Nikolai Krylenko
Nikolai Vasilyevich Krylenko was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. Krylenko served in a variety of posts in the Soviet legal system, rising to become People's Commissar for Justice and Prosecutor General of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.Krylenko was an...
demanded the death sentence for Koltsov (67 of around 1000 arrested people were executed). However, after a personal appeal to Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
by Maxim Gorky
Maxim Gorky
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov , primarily known as Maxim Gorky , was a Russian and Soviet author, a founder of the Socialist Realism literary method and a political activist.-Early years:...
Koltsov was released and was restored to his position as the head of the Koltsov Institute of Experimental Biology.
Campaign against him and death
In 1937 and 1939, the supporters of Trofim LysenkoTrofim Lysenko
Trofim Denisovich Lysenko was a Soviet agronomist of Ukrainian origin, who was director of Soviet biology under Joseph Stalin. Lysenko rejected Mendelian genetics in favor of the hybridization theories of Russian horticulturist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, and adopted them into a powerful...
published a series of propaganda articles against Nikolai Koltsov and Nikolai Vavilov
Nikolai Vavilov
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov was a prominent Russian and Soviet botanist and geneticist best known for having identified the centres of origin of cultivated plants...
. They wrote: "The Institute of Genetics of the Academy of Sciences not only did not criticize Professor Koltsov's fascistic nonsense, but even did not dissociate itself from his "theories" which support the racial theories of fascists". His death in 1940 was claimed to have been due to a stroke. However, "the biochemist Ilya Zbarsky revealed that the unexpected death of Koltsov was a result of his poisoning by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
", the secret police of the Soviet Union. The same day his wife committed suicide