Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science recently fired the director of the prestigious Institute of General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences allegedly for controversial remarks that are incompatible with science.

Geneticist Alexander Kudryavtsev was named director of the General Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences in June of 2021 and was scheduled to carry out his mandate until 2027, but last month, Russia’s Ministry of Education and Science announced that Kudryavtsev had been relieved of his duties and replaced. His sacking was immediately linked to a series of controversial statements made in March of last year, during the 3rd International Scientific and Theological Conference “God – Man – World”. The Russian scientist claimed that before the biblical flood, humans used to live for up to 900 years, but that their lifespan has shortened since then due to “original, ancestral and personal sin.”

While speaking during the above-mentioned conference, Alexander Kudryavtsev also said that sin affects the human genome, making them more susceptible to negative health outcomes. The geneticist added that even though atheist scientists will blame genetic decay on factors like radiation or pollution, he believes that it is caused by sin.

“These are the kind of mutations that genetic doctors find every day when they work with patients…,” Kudryavtsev said. “Atheist scientists will tell you that in fact it’s radiation, it’s pollution, it’s all mutagenic effects. Nevertheless, my personal conviction is that such destruction is initiated by original sin, aggravated by ancestral sin, and personal sin too.”

The controversial scientist also warned his audience not to sin, as this can affect their offspring as well for up to seven generations.

Photo: Pixabay

“I wanted to emphasize the harmful influence of so-called bad habits – what theologians call sin,” he said “They also affect the genome. If a mutation occurs in your body, in your gametes, it will be passed on to your offspring, and nothing can be done about it. The conclusion is simple: if you want to have healthy offspring, don’t develop bad habits, don’t fall into sin.”

Kudryavtsev’s position as director of a prestigious genetics institute has been contested by many in the Russian scientific community for almost a year now, with many calling him incompatible with his position.

“There is no scientific side to Alexander Kudryavtsev’s statements. There is simply reading the Bible because that’s where it’s all written. All believers know that the Lord created the Earth in seven days, and this was about 6000 years ago,” Evgeniy Alexandrov, head of Russia’s Commission of Combating Pseudoscience said in a statement. “But science has made great strides since biblical times and knows how many years the Earth has existed when man appeared as a species and so on. And it is absolutely incompatible with the mythological tales of the Bible. Yes, it is now customary to treat the church politely, but what does science have to do with it?”

 

Due to the blowback of his unusual statements, Alexander Kudryavtsev was forced to put out a statement clarifying that the remarks made during the “God – Man – World” conference reflected only his personal beliefs and should not be associated with the genetics institute he headed. That wasn’t good enough for many of his critics, though.

The Russian Government did not specify the reason for Kudryavtsev’s dismissal, but Fyodor Lukyanov, the head of the Russian church’s commission on family issues, has said that his dismissal “for religious beliefs and statements in accordance with these beliefs violates the ethics of the scientific community”.

Kudryavtsev isn’t the only scientist to make outlandish claims. Back in 2018, we reported that an Indian education organization wanted universities to teach students that batteries and airplanes were invented in India thousands of years ago.