Gregor Mendel

• Until the mid 19th century , most people thought that sexual reproduction produced a blend of characteristics
• How did Gregor Mendel investigate if sexual reproduction produced a blend of characteristics?

  He carried out breeding experiments on pea plants - He found that characteristics are determined by units that are inherited and do not blend together
• What did Scientists realise in the early twentieth century?

  Chromosomes and Mendel's ' units ' behaved in similar ways - the units became called genes - the scientists decided genes were located on chromosomes
• What did scientists work out in the mid twentieth century?

  What the structure of DNA looked like and the mechanism by which genes work
• Why was Mendel's work not recognised during his lifetime?

  He was a monk working in a monastery , not a scientist at a university - He also did not publish his work in a well-known book or journal