.
KR preparation: a story of research, science and politics
During the Second World War (1939-1945) and the Cold War (1945-1991), the Soviet goverment used science as a tool in political
affairs. Cancer was given political priority and all the research resources were directed to the development of oncology. Professors Nina Georgievna Klyueva (1899-1971) and Grigorii Iosifovich Roskin (1892-1964) dedicated their life to search for the cure of cancer in a world where manipulation of science had a political goal. In 1940 they managed to develop a anti-cancer serum from Trypanosoma cruzi. The stalinist government was informed of the development of its preparation, and this experience was utilized as a tool to control scientists who wanted to share its know-how with foreign scientists. Professors were discredited and accussed as traitors. As a result of this war, Klyueva and Roskin’s work was discredited and their discovery was forgotten.
Published: October 26, 2007