Sir

Science is a function of cultural and social imprinting, the impression left by the environment in which a researcher lives and works. Johann Gregor Mendel lived in difficult circumstances, with his work neglected during his lifetime, and disregarded under the influence of Trofim Lysenko. Now, as your News story “Museum suffers spiritual cramps over Mendel's work” (Nature 410, 6; 2001) makes clear, the Mendel museum in Brno, the Mendelianum, is under threat on rather flimsy religious grounds.

After a recent international human genetics meeting in Vienna, I visited the the Mendelianum and the abbey where Mendel designed and performed the experiments forming the cornerstone of genetics. The museum is managed by cordial, enthusiastic people, but it is small and has limited resources compared with similar institutions in Eastern Europe, for example the museum dedicated to Ignaz Semmelweis in Budapest. Few of my colleagues at the Vienna meeting were interested in visiting the cradle of genetics, and there is an air of indifference in this lovely city towards such an illustrious citizen and his memorial.

Given the relevance and impact of genetics, most recently with the decoding of the human genome sequence, the scientific community, especially in Eastern Europe, must support the Mendelianum. A fund could be established, genetics meetings could be held in Brno, and promotional material could be distributed to research centres, museums and other institutions across the world. Hence, future generations will become culturally 'imprinted', not with the dogmatic ignorance of Lysenko's heirs, but with the work of this universal figure to whom we, as a rational species, owe so much.