The history of genetics in the USSR in the “post-Lysenko” epoch (since 1960s) has been studied much less in comparison with the previous period. The paper is devoted to the second half of 1960s – the time of significant changes not only in the life of the Soviet society, but also in the history of Soviet science. Usually, these years are presented as a time of irreversible, progressive changes and rapid overcoming of Lysenkoism. Evidently, the real situation was more complicated: we can discern opposite trends at this stage. The dismissal of N. Khrushchev (1964) created more favorable conditions for the development of genetics in comparison to the previous period. At the same time the reorganization of the Soviet biology after his leave developed in a complex and contradictory way. Besides intrascientific factors there were some negative socio-political imperatives. Two of them played the most significant role. First of all, the opposition of “lysenkoites” continued. The second factor is characterized by changing politico-ideological atmosphere and by the rise of conservative and neo-Stalinism trends in the Soviet policy. Lysenko’s associates, who hold high positions in science and education, played an active role in the increasingly visible “conservative turn”. Thus, the development of Soviet genetics in the second half of 1960s is characterized by controversial trends. The most important feature of these years was changing social and political context of the development of genetics. In the new conditions genetics became considered as a legitimate field of research and even got some government’s support. Nevertheless, the support extended by the Soviet authorities was inconsistent and of a rather declarative character. For example, there was no official statement, in which T. Lysenko and his activities were negatively evaluated. Moreover, in course of time the opportunities for criticism of T. Lysenko were considerably narrowed. Research in certain areas, including human genetics that was rapidly developing worldwide, was limited by rigid ideological frameworks. These negative trends intensified in the course of time with the “conservative turn” in socio-political environment that occurred in the second half of the 1960s. Acknowledgments: The research project has been supported by the Russian Foundation for Humanities, grant no. 12-33-01295.