Lukas Evzen Martinec is abbot of the Abbey of St Thomas in Brno, a position Gregor Mendel used to hold. Like his predecessor, Martinec has a scientific background- he trained as a civil engineer. He studied for the priesthood underground during the communist era, when the abbey was closed. The regime considered both Mendelian genetics and religion bourgeois and reactionary.
What inspired you to rekindle an interest in genetics at the abbey?
When I arrived in 1995, the abbey was in a sorry state. No proper repairs had been done for 50 years. There was also a growing public interest…
