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Burnet oration. Politics, personalities and the development of science.

This lecture recounts a story that attempts to trace the history of ideas relating to tissue transplantation from the earliest times through to the present. This story was shaped by the strong Darwinian approach to biology championed by Burnet and Medawar. It also describes the political influence developed from the strong Lamarckian leanings of the communist supporters in the USSR, and the fact that the biological argument between those supporting Lamarck and those supporting Darwin was seen by the Praesidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences to be equated with the ideological class struggle between socialism and capitalism. This story points out that while science is valued for its objectivity, its dependence on personalities adds a subjective element. This subjective element is always present and it colours our science by reflecting both the political and cultural movements of the time.