Gregor Mendel

• Who is considered the founding father of genetics?

  Gregor Mendel
• What was Gregor Mendel's profession?

  Austrian scientist and monk
• What did farmers know about crossbreeding by the 1800s?

  It could lead to more favorable offspring
• What did Mendel study in his experiments?

  Traits of pea plants
• Which traits did Mendel observe in pea plants?

  Height, flower color, pod color
• What was the first experiment Mendel conducted with pea plants?

  • Crossed a green pea plant with a yellow pea plant
  • All offspring were yellow pea plants
• What was the result when Mendel crossed yellow pea plants from the first generation?

  Three quarters were yellow, one quarter green
• Why did Mendel conclude that hereditary units could be dominant or recessive?

  Because some traits were not expressed in offspring
• What are recessive hereditary units expressed?

  Only if inherited from both parents
• What did Mendel call the units passed from one generation to the next?

  Hereditary units
• What did Mendel find about the expression of yellow and green pod traits?

  Yellow plants carried recessive green traits
• What pattern did Mendel observe in his experiments with different traits?

  • Traits passed down in a dominant-recessive manner
  • Similar results across various characteristics
• What significant scientific knowledge was lacking during Mendel's time?

  Understanding of DNA and genes
• What discovery was made towards the end of the 1800s?

  Chromosomes were discovered
• How did scientists relate chromosomes to Mendel's hereditary units?

  They noticed similarities between them
• What term do we use today for Mendel's hereditary units?

  Genes
• What major discovery about DNA occurred in the 1950s?

  Double helix structure was discovered
• When was the entire human genome sequenced?

  In 2003
• What is the significance of Mendel's work in genetics?

  • Laid foundation for genetics
  • Introduced concepts of dominant and recessive traits
  • Influenced future genetic research