Russian biologists have made a great contribution to world science. In this article, we will talk about the basic names that should be known to every person who is interested in the animal and plant world. Russian biologists, whose biographies and achievements you will meet, inspire the younger generation to study this interesting science.
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
This man in Soviet times did not need to be introduced. However, now not everyone can say that Pavlov Ivan Petrovich (years of life - 1849-1936) created the doctrine of higher nervous activity. In addition, he wrote a number of works on the physiology of digestion and blood circulation. He was the first Russian scientist to receive the Nobel Prize for achievements in the field of digestion mechanisms.
Dog experiments
Many remember his experiments on dogs. Countless caricatures and jokes have been created on this subject both in our country and abroad. Every time they talk about instincts, they recall Pavlov’s dog.
Pavlov Ivan Petrovich already in 1890 began to engage in experiments on these animals. He used surgical methods to bring out the ends of the esophagus of dogs. When the animal began to eat, food did not enter the stomach, however, gastric juice from the created fistula nevertheless stood out.
Over time, Pavlov’s experiments became more complicated. He taught the dogs to respond in a certain way to external stimuli, in particular to the bell of the bell, which signaled of an early feeding. Due to this, a conditioned reflex was developed in the animal: immediately after the bell food appears. Still not seeing food, dogs began to secrete gastric juice from fistulas.
Feature of the Pavlov technique
The peculiarity of Pavlov’s technique was that he connected physiological activities with mental processes. The results of many studies have confirmed the existence of this relationship. Pavlov’s works, describing the mechanism by which digestion occurs, became the impetus for the emergence of a new direction in science - the physiology of higher nervous activity. Ivan Petrovich devoted more than 35 years of his life to this area.
Origin, training
The future scientist was born in Ryazan on September 14, 1849. His ancestors on the maternal and paternal lines were clergy, dedicated their lives to the Russian Orthodox Church. Pavlov graduated from the Ryazan Theological College in 1864, after which he entered the theological seminary of the same city, which he subsequently spoke of with great warmth. When he was in his last year, he read Sechenov's work "Reflexes of the brain." He turned his later life.
Pavlov's achievements
He published his first work in 1923, and in 1926 the Soviet government built a biological station near Leningrad. Here Pavlov began his research in the field of nervous activity and the genetics of the behavior of higher monkeys (anthropoids). In addition, he worked in psychiatric clinics.
It should be noted that Pavlov in the field of cognition of the brain's work makes almost the largest contribution in history. Using the scientific methods of this scientist allowed science to understand a lot about mental illnesses, as well as to outline the ways of their treatment. The academician, having the support of the USSR government, had access to the resources necessary for research. This allowed him to make revolutionary discoveries.
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov
The great Russian world-famous biologists are Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov. We have already talked about the first of them. We will introduce the reader to the second.
Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (years of life - 1845-1916) - a famous Russian microbiologist, as well as a pathologist. In 1908, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology (together with P. Erlich). Mechnikov received this prestigious award for his achievements in the field of the nature of immunity.
The future scientist was born in a village near Kharkov on May 3, 1845. In 1864, Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov graduated from Kharkov University, after which he trained at the departments of the universities of Munich, Göttingen and Giessen. Mechnikov also traveled to Italy, where he studied embryology. He defended his doctoral dissertation in 1868. From 1870 to 1882, the scientist worked in Odessa. Here, at Novorossiysk University, he was a professor of zoology. The scientist successfully combined teaching with scientific work. In 1886, together with N.F. Gamaley, he organized a bacteriological station, the first in Russia. The scientist moved to Paris in 1887, and a year later, at the invitation of L. Pasteur, he began working at his institute, where he headed the laboratory. Since 1905, Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov was the deputy director of this educational institution.
The first works of Ilya Ilyich were written on the subject of invertebrate zoology (intestinal and sponges), as well as evolutionary embryology. He owns the theory of phagocytella (the origin of multicellular organisms). The scientist discovered the phenomenon of phagocytosis, which is the absorption of living cells and particles by unicellular organisms or phagocytes - special cells, which include, for example, some types of white blood cells. Based on this theory, Mechnikov developed another one - a comparative pathology of inflammation.
There are many works written by Ilya Ilyich on bacteriology. He set experiments on himself, as a result of which he proved that cholera vibrio is the causative agent of Asian cholera. Ilya Ilyich died on July 2, 1916 in Paris.
What other Russian biologists are worthy of attention? We invite you to get acquainted with another one of them.
Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky
This is another great Russian scientist, whose name cannot be ignored. Kovalevsky was a zoologist, worked at the Imperial Academy of Sciences as an ordinary academician.
Kovalevsky Alexander Onufrievich was born in 1840, November 19. He received his elementary education at home, and then continued his studies in the corps of railway engineers. Alexander Onufrievich left there in 1859 and entered Petersburg University (Department of Natural Sciences). In the period from 1860 to 1862, Kovalevsky studied with Bronn, Carius and Bunsen in Heidelberg, and then with Leydig, Quenstet, Lushka and Moth in Tübingen.
In 1862, Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky graduated from St. Petersburg University, followed by the defense of a master's and doctoral dissertation. In 1868, Kovalevsky became a professor of zoology. At this time, he worked at Kazan University.
The period from 1870 to 1873 includes a trip to Algeria and the Red Sea for a scientific purpose. In 1890, after another trip abroad, he was elected a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and also received the rank of ordinary academician. In 1891, he occupied the Department of Histology at his hometown Petersburg University.
Most of the work of this scientist is devoted to embryology, especially invertebrates. Studies conducted by him in the 1860s discovered the germ layers in these organisms. Kovalevsky's research in recent years has been devoted mainly to the determination of phagocytic and excretory organs in invertebrates.
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov
This man belongs to the doctrine of plant immunity, as well as their origin from world centers. Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich discovered the law on hereditary changes in organisms and on homologous series. This man made a great contribution to the study of biological species. He created the most impressive collection of seeds of various cultivated plants in the world. This is another scientist whose name glorified our country.
The origin of Vavilov
Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich was born in Moscow on November 25, 1887 in the family of the merchant of the second guild and public figure Ivan Ilyich Vavilov. This man was a native of peasants. Before the revolution of 1917, he worked as director of the Udalov and Vavilov company, which was engaged in manufacturing. Postnikova Alexandra Mikhailovna, the mother of a scientist, was from the family of a painter. In total, the family of Ivan Ilyich had 7 children, but three of them died in childhood.
Study and teaching
Nikolai Ivanovich received his primary education at a commercial school, and then began to study at the Moscow Agricultural Institute. He finished it in 1911, after which he remained to work at the institute in the department of private agriculture. Vavilov in 1917 began to give lectures at the University of Saratov, and since 1921 he worked in Petrograd. The All-Union Institute of Plant Production Nikolai Ivanovich headed until 1940. Based on research conducted in 1919-20, he described all cultivated plants of the Volga and Trans-Volga regions.
Expeditions of Vavilov
Nikolai Vavilov spent 20 years (from 1920 to 1940) led expeditions to study the vegetation of Central Asia, the Mediterranean, and others. With one of them, he visited Afghanistan in 1924. The resulting materials allowed the scientist to determine the origin and distribution of cultivated plants. This greatly facilitated the further work of nerds and breeders. The collection of plants collected by the researcher includes more than 300 thousand samples. It is stored in VIR.
last years of life
Vavilov in 1926 received the Lenin Prize for his work on immunity, the origin of cultivated plant species, and also for the law of homologous series discovered by him. He received a number of awards and several medals. However, a campaign unleashed against the scientist, unleashed by his student T.D. Lysenko and supported by party ideologists. She was directed against genetics research. In 1940, as a result of this, the scientific activity of Vavilov was discontinued. He was accused of sabotage and arrested. The great scientist was destined for a difficult fate in recent years. He died in a prison in Saratov from starvation in 1943.
Scientist Rehabilitation
For 11 months the investigation against him lasted. During this time, Vavilov was summoned for questioning more than 400 times. After death, Nikolai Ivanovich was denied even a separate grave. He was buried with other prisoners. Vavilov was rehabilitated in 1955, all charges of activity against the revolution were dropped. His name was finally restored at the USSR Academy of Sciences.
Alexander Leonidovich Vereshchak
Modern Russian biologists have high expectations. In particular, A.L. Vereshchak, who owns many achievements. He was born in Khimki on July 16, 1965. Vereshchak is a Russian oceanologist, professor, doctor of biological sciences, and also a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
In 1987, he completed his studies at Moscow State University, at the Faculty of Biology. In 1990, the scientist became a doctor, in 1999 - a professor at MIIGAik, and since 2007 he headed the laboratory owned by the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located in Moscow.
Vereshchak Alexander Leonidovich is a specialist in the field of oceanology and geoecology. He owns about 100 scientific papers. Its main achievements are connected with the application of modern methods in the field of oceanology and geoecology, such as the deep-sea inhabited spacecraft Mir (more than 20 dives, 11 expeditions).
Vereshchak is the creator of the hydrothermal system model (three-dimensional). He developed the concept of a boundary ecosystem (bentopeligial) inhabited by a specific fauna and associated with the bottom layer. In collaboration with colleagues from other countries, he created a methodology for determining the role of marine nano- and microbiota (prokaryotes, archaea, and eukaryotes) using modern advances in molecular genetics. He owns the discovery and description of two families of shrimp, as well as more than 50 species and genera of crustaceans.
Rosenberg Gennady Samuilovich
The scientist was born in Ufa in 1949. He began his career as an engineer, but soon began to head the laboratory at the Institute of Biology of the Bashkir Branch of the Academy of Sciences. Gennady Samuilovich Rosenberg moved to Tolyatti in 1987, where he worked as a chief researcher at the Volga Basin Institute of Ecology. In 1991, the scientist headed this institute.
He belongs to the development of methods for analyzing the dynamics and structure of ecosystems. He also created a system for analyzing the ecology of large regions.
Ilyin Yuri Viktorovich
This scientist was born in Asbest on December 21, 1941. He is a molecular biologist, and since 1992, an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His achievements are great, so the scientist deserves a more detailed story about him.
Yuri Viktorovich Ilyin specializes in molecular genetics and molecular biology. In 1976, the scientist carried out the cloning of dispersed mobile genes, which are a new type of eukaryotic genes. The significance of this discovery was very great. These were the first motile genes in animals that were discovered. After that, the scientist began to study the mobile elements of eukaryotes. He created a theory about the role of dispersed mobile genes in evolution, mutagenesis, and carcinogenesis.
Zinaida Sergeevna Donets
The great biologists of Russia are not only men. It should be told about such a scientist as Zinaida Sergeevna Donets. She is a doctor of sciences, professor of zoology and ecology of Yaroslavl State University.
In 1953, Donetsk, Zinaida Sergeevna graduated from Kiev State University, and after a while she defended her candidate and doctoral dissertation. Since 1978, she has been working at Yaroslavl State University. Zinaida Sergeevna conducted research on the ecology and fauna of fish parasites of the Volga basin. She owns more than 100 publications in various scientific journals.
Of course, there are other biologists in our country that deserve attention. We talked only about the largest researchers and achievements that are useful to remember.