History of genetics in Brazil 1 History of genetics in Brazil: a view from the Museu da Genética at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul* SOUZA, Vanderlei Sebastião de; DORNELLES, Rodrigo Ciconet; COIMBRA JÚNIOR, Carlos E.A.; SANTOS, Ricardo Ventura. History of genetics in Brazil: a view from the Museu da Genética at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. História, Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro. Disponível em http://www.scielo.br/hcsm. Abstract This work addresses the context of the creation, as well as the structure and contents, of the Museum of Genetics (Museu da Genética), created in 2011 and located in the Department of Genetics of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul), in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The materials available at the Museum of Genetics are a rich resource for research on the history of genetics in Brazil (and especially the genetics of human populations) beginning with the second half of the twentieth century. Despite the prominence of the field of genetics in Brazil, little research has been done on this topic. Keywords: history of genetics in Brazil; human genetics; Museum of Genetics; evolutionary theory; Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Vanderlei Sebastião de Souza Professor at the Departament of History/Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste. Rua Salvatore Renna, 875 85015-430 – Guarapuava – PR – Brazil vanderleidesouza@yahoo.com.br Rodrigo Ciconet Dornelles Master’s Student, Graduate Program in Social Anthropology/ Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul. Av. Bento Gonçalves, 9500 91509-900 – Porto Alegre – RS – Brazil rodrigo.ciconet@yahoo.com.br Carlos E.A. Coimbra Júnior Senior Researcher at Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública (Ensp)/ Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz). Av. Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480, sala 617 21041-210 – Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Brazil coimbra@ensp.iocruz.br Ricardo Ventura Santos Associate Professor at Museu Nacional/Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; senior researcher at Ensp/Fiocruz. Av. Leopoldo Bulhões, 1480, sala 617 21041-210 – Rio de Janeiro – RJ – Brazil santos@ensp.iocruz.br SOURCES Translated by Nancy Flowers.