Values are a universal attribute of humankind. All humans have moral values; that is, they accept standards according to which their conduct is judged right or wrong, good or evil. People have also other sorts of values: economic, aesthetic, gastronomic, and so on. Where do moral values come from? Some moral values are widespread and perhaps universal, like not to kill, not to steal, and to honor one's parents. But the moral values by which people judge their behavior vary at present from culture to culture and have changed in important ways through historical times. Different ethnic groups, different nationalities, different tribes, and even different individuals exhibit different moral values and different norms by which they evaluate their actions. Think of the difference between a modern American and an Islamic fundamentalist with respect to the rights of women, or between most modern Americans and the official doctrine of the current Russian government concerning homosexuality.2 Darwin expressed horror at the burning of widows by Hindus and thought absurd the proscription of Muslim women to expose their faces.
We explore the distinctive characteristics of Mexico's society, politics and history that impacted the establishment of genetics in Mexico, as a new disciplinary field that began in the early 20th century and was consolidated and institutionalized in the second half. We identify about three stages in the institutionalization of genetics in Mexico. The first stage can be characterized by Edmundo Taboada, who was the leader of a research program initiated during the Cárdenas government (1934-1940), which was primarily directed towards improving the condition of small Mexican farmers. Taboada is the first Mexican post-graduate investigator in phytotechnology and phytopathology, trained at Cornell University and the University of Minnesota, in 1932 and 1933, respectively. He was the first investigator to teach plant genetics at the National School of Agriculture and wrote the first textbook of general genetics, Genetics Notes, in 1938. Taboada's most important single genetics contribution was the production of "stabilized" corn varieties. The extensive exile of Spanish intellectuals to Mexico, after the end of Spain's Civil War (1936-1939), had a major influence in Mexican science and characterizes the second stage. The three main personalities contributing to Mexican genetics are Federico Bonet de Marco and Bibiano Fernández Osorio Tafall, at the National School of Biological Sciences, and José Luis de la Loma y Oteyza, at the Chapingo Agriculture School. The main contribution of the Spanish exiles to the introduction of genetics in Mexico concerned teaching. They introduced in several universities genetics as a distinctive discipline within the biology curriculum and wrote genetics text books and manuals. The third stage is identified with Alfonso León de Garay, who founded the Genetics and Radiobiology Program in 1960 within the National Commission of Nuclear Energy, which had been founded in 1956. The Genetics and Radiobiology Program rapidly became a disciplinary program, for it embraced research, teaching, and ...
