Project background
Although no longer supported by Bioversity International or The Christensen Fund I am grateful to both organizations for helping to give Vavilov a voice in the internet age.
When I first heard that Gary Nabhan was going to retrace some of N.I. Vavilov’s voyages of discovery, I wondered, “is he going to blog it?”. A moment later I knew that if Vavilov were alive today, he’d be popping into the nearest internet café at every opportunity to share his discoveries with the world. Some time later, the idea of creating a voice for Vavilov was born. Thanks to the support of the Christensen Foundation and the generosity of colleagues and friends, here it is.
The vaviblog is a work in progress. We hope that it will spark conversations, not only about the agricultural diversity that was so close to Vavilov’s heart, but also about the wider nexus that surrounds their use and conservation.
Agricultural biodiversity is all that stands between the world and starvation. I hope that by giving a voice to Vavilov this web site will help people to understand why that is so and to take steps to safeguard our past … because it is our future.
Jeremy Cherfas, 1 October 2008
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
What a fantastic project, congratulations. I haven’t had a good look around yet, but a blog broadly about agricultural biodiversity is a great idea. Of particular concern is our rapidly disappearing diversity among livestock breeds: the FAO projects that 20% of 7500 chickens, pigs, sheep and cattle will disappear by 2020.
In 2009, we really stand at a crossroads – the celebrations over for anniversary of the Origin of Species, our best explanation for life and all it’s diversity, and the 2010 UN International Year of Biodiversity to come.
The diversity of crops and farm animals seems a less glamorous cause than saving the whales, or mountain gorillas, but it really is the time we took a stand to conserve it.
Good luck with your travels, discoveries and reporting! I look forward to reading more.
08-19-09
I have a question about Vavilov’s personal life. Could he have had another son in 1923, in Saratov, as the result of a liaison with a young woman? I have a Russian friend, who was told that his father was a famous scientist at the Univerity. His mother gave him a photo that bears a strong resemblance to Vavilov.
@Murphy: I’m not an expert on Vavilov’s personal life by any means, but I think it is entirely likely. Vavilov was a very attractive and charming man and he was a professor at Saratov. His son Yuri is still alive, as are other members of the family. I suppose your friend could ask for DNA samples … especially if all he wants is information.
It would be interesting to see the photograph.
Congratulations ! Your project is very interesting! I am subscribed some months ago to Vaviblog RSS feed and I think is amazing how he discovered the different crops and wild plants. You are doing an excellent work! Congratulations again!
It is wonderful to find some of Vavilov’s writings at this internet site. Those visiting the site might like to know that Vavilov had many dealings with the English geneticist William Bateson. This is related in our new biography of Bateson, details of which may be found at my website.
Hell0 Jeremy: Dr Adolph Ceska, editor of the Botanical Electronic Newsletter informs me that the Pavalosk Experimental Station is endangered as a real
estate development. There is a petition to oppose this. Not 9only did
Vavilov live there early in his professional life, but in an EnGlish style building donated by QueenVictoria. The destruction of the station will be a blow to agricultural research and historic preservation, and we may well mention Vavilov’s memory. My regard,Barry
Hello Jeremy, Vavilov Blog readers may be interested in the the current BBC radio world service progam”one planet” which is a debate concerning genetically modified foods and their pace of introduction. This should be on their web site for the next few days Oct 7-12,2010., The debate features Dr Roger Beachy, sometimes credited as the first scientist to introduce genetically modified tomato plants into widespread cultivation in 1985, a designation he says he shares with others…Dr. Beachy in now director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the USA and he is an advocate of widespread development of GM foods to increase agricultural production. Dr Michael Antonisciu , a biogeneticist at the Kings College in London also
work on the genetic modification of plants main to increase their resistance to plant disease( a field that interested Vavilov) He Dr. Antonisciu advocates a much slower approach to widespread Gm plant cultivation. And there is more to the progamme, President Evo Morales of Bolivia is advocating the banning of Gm food and perhaps even hybid commercial seeds within five years. See if you think this notice is timely enough for your readers, My guess is it will remain on the BBC website for about a month. My regards to you and the Blog readers…Barry
Dear Jeremy.
You’ve made a very interesting and informative website devoted to Vavilov.
He is a great person worth admiring. Thanks a lot for your job.
I got the adress of the website from Teresa Cherfas.
With best wishes,
Maria Borodina
Thank you Maria; if you have any contributions you could offer, I would be very happy to receive them.
Jeremy
Dear Jeremy,
Coming to think of it, I wrote a piece on my blog a few years back dealing with Vavilov and the Nazi theft of genetic resources in the Soviet Union during WWII, in case it might interest you: http://vilhelmkonnander.blogspot.com/2006/07/come-rob-botanical-garden.html
Yours,
Vilhelm
Thank you Vilhelm. I was aware of this from an article a while ago in New Scientist, and your use of Monty Python made me laugh. If you have any insights into what is happening with the Pavlovsk Experiment Station, or anything else to share about the agricultural situation there, I’d be delighted to hear about them.