Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

About Us

Péter Poczai

Péter Poczai is a doctor of plant health (MSc) and plant geneticist (PhD).  He received his degrees at the University of Pannonia and was awarded with a Pro Sciencia Medal in 2007. He is a former Eötvös, CIMO and Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) fellow. Currently he is the curator of the Finnish Museum of Natural History and a docent of the Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki and serves as the CITES Scientific Authority of Finland. His research focuses on evolutionary relationships of various land plant groups and are guided by investigating bold questions related to the development of plant life on Earth. He is integrating different aspects theoretical and experimental aspects of biology into a complex evolutionary framework.

 

The forgotten legacy of Emmerich Festetics

The question often emerges as to why genetics started so late, relative to other sciences? Most students are still taught that the discipline of genetics began with Mendel, and would be surprised to learn that many of the central principles were formulated before Mendel was born, also in Brno where Mendel later worked, and through the study of sheep rather than peas. Inasmuch as a single individual can be credited for pre-Mendelian genetics, it is Count Emmerich Festetics, a sheep breeder based in Kőszeg (Hungary), who remains as obscure today as Mendel is famous. The current research aims to investigate why the work of Emmerich Festetics was forgotten and why it did not trigger a paradigm shift in the early 19 century.