Weird NewsRIA NovostiMeduzaAlexander Kudryavtsev

Russia Fires Genetics Institute Chief Who Claimed Humans Lived 900 Years

The country's science and higher education ministry has dismissed Alexander Kudryavtsev,, who once claimed that the shorter lives of modern humans are due to their ancestors’ sins.
AP

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s science and higher education ministry has dismissed the head of a prestigious genetics institute who sparked controversy by contending that humans once lived for centuries and that the shorter lives of modern humans are due to their ancestors’ sins, state news agency RIA-Novosti said Thursday.

Although the report did not give a reason for the firing of Alexander Kudryavtsev, the influential Russian Orthodox Church called it religious discrimination.

Kudryavtsev, who headed the Russian Academy of Science’s Vavilov Institute of General Genetics, made a presentation at a conference in 2023 in which he said people had lived for some 900 years prior to the era of the Biblical Flood and that “original, ancestral and personal sins” caused genetic diseases that shortened lifespans.

He also claimed that children “up to the seventh generation are responsible for the sins of their fathers,” according to the Russian news website Meduza.

The head of the Russian church’s commission on family issues, Fyodor Lukyanov, said Kudryavtsev’s dismissal “for religious beliefs and statements in accordance with these beliefs violates the ethics of the scientific community,” RIA-Novosti said.

“We have already gone through Soviet times, when genetics was long considered a pseudoscience,” Lukyanov said. The Soviet Union under Josef Stalin suppressed conventional genetics in favor of the theories of Trofim Lysenko, who contended that acquired characteristics could be inherited by offspring.

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Before You Go

Secrets To Longevity
Life Extender: No Worries(01 of08)
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"Part of living to 100 seems to require having the right personality," Dr. Perls says. "It appears that centenarians manage their stress, rather than letting it manage them. They don't internalize stress, which has been linked to heart disease and high blood pressure, cancer and Alzheimer's. Of the centenarians we have tested, many scored low in neuroticism, meaning that they tend not to dwell on things." (credit:Shutterstock)
Life Extender: Veggie Diet(02 of08)
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Life Extender: Pearly Whites(03 of08)
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Life Extender: Genetics(04 of08)
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Not much you can do about this, but Dr. Perls's research has found that those who have a relative who made it past 100 are more likely to pass the century mark as well. "Longevity runs strongly in families," he says. "If you're generally healthy, you'll live to about 88 years, and to go those additional 12, you'll probably need at least one family member who has reached the 90s." (credit:Alamy)
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"If you smoke, you may automatically take 15 years off your life," Dr. Perls says. "Few centenarians smoke, and even exposure to secondhand smoke is a concern." However, according to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, if you were a smoker but quit, you'll likely outlive those who continue to puff away. (credit:Shutterstock)
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"Obesity is quite rare among centenarians, especially in men," Dr. Perls says. "Many believe in moderation in many aspects of their lives." (credit:Shutterstock)
Life Ender: Sleepless Nights(08 of08)
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Are you snoozing fewer than six hours a night? If so, you're risking membership in the 100 Club. Studies have linked heart disease to a lack of shut-eye — particularly with fewer than those six hours. (credit:Shutterstock)
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