Crackpots are not always harmless, especially when given power.

Such was the case with profimly Senko, who literally believed that food crops could be

taught to be good communists.

In the early 20th century when the young Soviet Union was struggling, he was put in charge

of revitalizing the food supply, and results were predictably both disastrous and deadly.

That's up next on Skeptoid.

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If you have an abundance of goofy but superficially sciencey ideas, a nice smile, and a crazy dream

of fame, riches, and influence, your next step is to pick a path to success.

One role model might be Soviet agronomist and pseudo-biologist Trofum Denisovich Lysenko.

The super-achieving standout among histories ignoble invaglers.

He didn't just win friends and influence people, he took control of an entire branch of the Soviet Union's government,

misdirecting resources, setting back that country's agriculture and genetic science for decades, denouncing,

and through his sponsor Joseph Stalin, even disappearing those who questioned his ideologically driven pseudo-science.

While Lysenko later turned into a monster, he didn't start out that way, nor was he entirely bereft of scientific cred.

Trofum Lysenko began life among the peasants of Ukraine, gaining an education at the Kiev Agricultural Institute.

He hit the ground at an Azerbaijan research farm just as communist doctrine in the form of forced collectivization

was taking its toll on Soviet agriculture.

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