Gregor Mendel

• Who was Gregor Mendel?

  Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk and scientist known as the "Father of Genetics" for his pioneering experiments with inheritance in pea plants.
• what did Gregor Mendel study in his experiments?


  Mendel studied how traits such as flower colour, seed shape, and plant height were passed from one generation to the next using pea plants.
• What are the key terms Mendel introduced in genetics?

  Mendel introduced the concepts of dominant and recessive traits and the idea of hereditary units (now known as genes).
• What is Mendel’s Law of Segregation?

  Mendel’s Law of Segregation states that each organism carries two alleles for each gene, and these alleles separate during the formation of gametes, with each gamete receiving one allele.
• Why did Gregor Mendel use pea plants for his experiments?


  Mendel used pea plants because they have clear, easily observable traits, can self-pollinate or be cross-pollinated, and reproduce quickly.
• What did Mendel discover when he crossed pure-breeding tall and short pea plants?

  When Mendel crossed pure-breeding tall plants (TT) with short plants (tt), all offspring in the F1 generation were tall (Tt), showing tallness is a dominant trait.
• What happened in Mendel’s F2 generation when crossing two heterozygous plants (Tt)?


  In the F2 generation, Mendel observed a 3:1 phenotypic ratio (3 tall : 1 short) and a 1:2:1 genotypic ratio (1 TT : 2 Tt : 1 tt).
• Why was Mendel’s work not recognized during his lifetime?


  Mendel’s work was not understood or appreciated during his lifetime because genetics was not yet a well-established science, and his findings were published in a little-known journal.
• According to Mendel, what do offspring receive from their parents?


  Offspring receive genes from their parents. Each offspring inherits one unit (allele) for each trait from each parent. These units determine the offspring’s traits and can be either dominant or recessive.