Professor Piotr Węgleński, who died on January 19, 2024 studied and worked at the University of Warsaw – at the Faculty of Biology and later at the Center for New Technologies. He was a member of the Polish Academy of Sciences and the vice-rector and later the rector of the University of Warsaw. He was responsible for introducing genetic engineering to Poland. He was a great boss – that is what we always called him – and a great academic teacher and was very active in popularizing science.