Russian biologists and their discoveries

Russian biologists have made a great contribution to theworld science. In this article we will tell you about the main names that every person who is interested in animals and plants needs to know. Russian biologists, whose biographies and achievements you will become acquainted with, inspire the younger generation to study this interesting science.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

During the Soviet period, this man did not needrepresentation. However, now not everyone can say that Pavlov Ivan Petrovich (years of life - 1849-1936) created a theory of higher nervous activity. In addition, he wrote a series of works on the physiology of digestion and circulation. He was the first Russian scientist to receive the Nobel Prize for achievements in the field of digestion mechanisms.

Experiments on dogs

Many remember his experiments on dogs. Numerous cartoons and anecdotes have been created on this subject both in our country and abroad. Every time they talk about instincts, they remember the dog Pavlov.

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 started to eat, food did not get into the stomach, but the gastric juice from the created fistula still 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 warned of the fast feeding. Thanks to this, the animal developed a conditioned reflex: immediately after the bell, food appears. Still not seeing food, the dogs began to secrete gastric juice from the fistula.

Feature of the Pavlov technique

The peculiarity of Pavlov's method was thathe associated physiological activity with mental processes. The results of many studies confirmed the existence of this connection. 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, 1849His ancestors on the maternal and paternal lines were clergymen, dedicated their lives to the Russian Orthodox Church. Pavlov graduated from the Ryazan spiritual school in 1864, after which he entered the seminary of the same city, which he later spoke with great warmth. When he was in his last year, he read Sechenov's work "Reflexes of the brain." He turned his further life.

Pavlov's achievements

His first work he published in 1923, and in 1926the government of the USSR built a Biological Station near Leningrad. Here Pavlov began his research in the field of nervous activity and genetics of behavior of higher monkeys (anthropoids). In addition, he worked in psychiatric clinics.

It should be noted that Pavlov in the sphere of cognitionthe work of the brain is almost the biggest contribution in the history. Using 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 government of the USSR, had access to the resources necessary for research. This allowed him to make revolutionary discoveries.

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov

The great Russian biologists of world renown are Ivan Petrovich Pavlov and Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov. We have already told about the first of them. Let's introduce the reader to the second.

Mechnikov Ilya Ilich (years of life - 1845-1916) -famous Russian microbiologist, as well as a pathologist. In 1908 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology (with P. Ehrlich). This prestigious award Mechnikov received for achievements in the field of the nature of immunity.

The future scientist was born in a village nearKharkov, May 3, 1845. In 1864, Mechnikov Ilya Ilyich 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. Gamaleia 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 subjectinvertebrate zoology (intestinal cavities 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 single-celled organisms or phagocytes - special cells, which include, for example, certain types of white blood cells. Based on this theory, Mechnikov developed another, a comparative pathology of inflammation.

There are many works written by IlyaIlyich on bacteriology. He experimented on himself, as a result of which he proved that the 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 offer to meet with one of them.

Alexander Onufrievich Kovalevsky

This is another great Russian scientist, whose name can not be mentioned. Kovalevsky was a zoologist, he worked at the Imperial Academy of Sciences as an ordinary academician.

Kovalevsky Alexander Onufrievich was born in 1840November 19th. He received his primary education at home, and then continued his studies in the corps of railway engineers. Alexander Onufrievich left there in 1859 and entered the St. 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 Mole in Tubingen.

In 1862, Kovalevsky Alexander Onufrievichgraduated from the University of St. Petersburg, followed by the defense of his master's and doctoral dissertation. In 1868, Kovalevsky became a professor of zoology. At this time he worked at the University of Kazan.

The period from 1870 to 1873 includes a trip toAlgeria and the Red Sea with a scientific purpose. In 1890, after another trip abroad, he was elected a member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, and also received the title of ordinary academician. In 1891, he occupied the Department of Histology at his native Petersburg University.

Most of the work of this scientist is devoted toembryology, especially invertebrates. Studies conducted by him in the 1860s discovered germ layers in these organisms. In recent years, Kovalevsky’s studies have been devoted mainly to the determination of phagocytic and excretory organs in invertebrates.

Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov

This man belongs to the doctrine of immunity.plants, as well as their origin from world centers. Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich discovered the law on the hereditary change of 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 has glorified our country.

The origin of Vavilov

Vavilov Nikolai Ivanovich was born in Moscow 25November 1887 in the family of the second guild merchant and public figure Vavilov Ivan Ilyich. This man was a native of the peasants. Before the 1917 revolution, he worked as the director of the Udalov and Vavilov firm, which was engaged in manufacture. Postnikova Alexandra Mikhailovna, the mother of the scientist, was from the family of the artist-carver. In total, the family of Ivan Ilyich had 7 children, but three of them died in childhood.

Study and teaching

Primary education Nikolai Ivanovich received inCommercial School, and then began to study at the Moscow Agricultural Institute. He graduated in 1911, after which he remained to work at the institute at the department of private farming. Vavilov in 1917 began to lecture at the University of Saratov, and from 1921 he worked in Petrograd. All-Union Institute of Plant Growing Nikolay Ivanovich headed until 1940. Based on research conducted in 1919–20, he described all the cultivated plants of the Volga and Trans-Volga regions.

Vavilov Expeditions

Nikolai Vavilov 20 years (from 1920 to 1940)led expeditions to study the vegetation of Central Asia, the Mediterranean, and others. In 1924 he traveled with one of them to Afghanistan. The materials obtained allowed the scientist to determine the origin and distribution of cultivated plants. This greatly facilitated the further work of botanists 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 forwork on immunity, the origin of cultivated plant species, as well as for the law of homologous series, open to them. He received a number of awards and several medals. However, a campaign unleashed against the scientist, unleashed by his disciple TD. Lysenko and supported by party ideologues. She was directed against genetics research. In 1940, as a result of this, Vavilov’s academic activities were discontinued. He was accused of sabotage and arrested. The great scientist was prepared a difficult fate in recent years. He died in prison in Saratov from starvation in 1943.

Rehabilitation scientist

The investigation against him lasted 11 months. During this time, Vavilov was called in for questioning more than 400 times. After his death, Nikolai Ivanovich was denied even a separate grave. He was buried along 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 Vereshchaka

Modern Russian biologists serve largehope. In particular, A.L. Heathers, who owns many achievements. He was born in Khimki on July 16, 1965. Vereshchak is a Russian oceanologist, professor, doctor of biological sciences, as well as a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

In 1987 he completed his studies at Moscow State University, onFaculty of Biology. In 1990, the scientist became a doctor, in 1999 - a professor at MIIGAik, and since 2007 he has headed the laboratory belonging to the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, located in Moscow.

Vereshchaka Alexander Leonidovich isa specialist in the field of oceanology and geoecology. He owns about 100 scientific papers. Its main achievements are connected with the use of modern methods in the field of oceanology and geo-ecology, such as the Mir deep-sea habitable apparatuses (more than 20 dives, 11 expeditions).

Vereshchaka is the creator of the modelhydrothermal system (three-dimensional). He developed the concept of a boundary ecosystem (bentopelligia) inhabited by a specific fauna and associated with the bottom layer. In collaboration with colleagues from other countries, he created a method for determining the role of marine nano- and microbiota (prokaryotes, archaea, and eukaryotes) using current 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 located 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 chief researcher at the Institute of Ecology of the Volga Basin. 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 Yury Viktorovich

This scientist was born in Asbest on December 21, 1941. He is a molecular biologist, and since 1992 he is also an academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His achievements are great, so the scholar deserves a more detailed account of him.

Yuri Viktorovich Ilyin specializes inmolecular genetics and molecular biology. In 1976, the scientist carried out the cloning of dispersed mobile genes, which are eukaryotic genes of a new type. The value of this discovery was very great. These were the first motile genes in animals that could be detected. 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 Donets

The great biologists of Russia are not only men. It is necessary to tell about such a scientist as Zinaida Sergeevna Donets. She is a doctor of science, professor of zoology and ecology of Yaroslavl State University.

In 1953 Donets Zinaida Sergeevna graduated from Kiev State University, after some time she defended her thesis and doctoral thesis. Since 1978 she has been working at Yaroslavl State University. Zinaida S. led the work on the study of the ecology and fauna of the parasites of the fish of the Volga basin. She owns more than 100 publications in various scientific journals.

Of course, there are other biologists in our country worthy of attention. We told only about the largest researchers and achievements that are useful to remember.