Gregor Mendel and the History of Genetics

• Who is considered the founding father of genetics?

  Gregor Mendel
• What was Gregor Mendel's profession?


  He was a scientist and a monk
• What did farmers know about crossbreeding by the 1800s?


  It could lead to more favorable offspring
• What type of plants did Mendel experiment with?

  Pea plants
• What traits did Mendel study in pea plants?


  Height, flower color, and pod color
• What was the result when Mendel crossed a green pea plant with a yellow pea plant?


  All offspring were yellow pea plants
• What happened when Mendel crossed two yellow pea plants from the first generation?


  Three quarters of the offspring were yellow and one quarter were green
• What did Mendel conclude about hereditary units?


  They could be dominant or recessive
• When are recessive hereditary units expressed?


  When the plant receives the unit from both parents
• Why did the yellow pea plants in the second generation still have hereditary units for green pods?


  Because they were recessive and not expressed
• What did Mendel's experiments suggest about the inheritance of traits?


  Many characteristics are passed down in a dominant-recessive way
• What was the scientific understanding of genetics during Mendel's time?


  Scientists did not know about DNA or genes
• What significant discovery was made towards the end of the 1800s?

  Scientists discovered chromosomes
• What did scientists notice about chromosomes in the early 1900s?


  They noticed similarities between chromosomes and Mendel's hereditary units
• What term do we now use for Mendel's hereditary units?


  Genes
• What major discovery was made in the 1950s regarding DNA?


  The double helix structure of DNA was discovered
• When was the entire human genome sequenced?


  In 2003
• What is the history of genetics as outlined in the video?

  • Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants in the 1800s
  • Discovery of chromosomes towards the end of the 1800s
  • Recognition of the relationship between chromosomes and genes in the early 1900s
  • Discovery of the double helix structure of DNA in the 1950s
  • Sequencing of the entire human genome in 2003