Mendel

• What is Mendel remembered for

  Devised the laws of inheritance by carrying out breeding experiments on plants
• Why was the importance of Mendel discovery not recognised until after his death

  His findings were not published in a very well known journal
• What else was discovered to allow Mendel’s findings to be understood

  19th century- Scientists observed the behaviour of chromosomes during cell division

  20th century- Mendel’s ‘units‘ behaved similarly to chromosomes leading to the idea that ‘units’ (genes now) were located on chromosomes

  Mid 20th century- Structure of DNA was determined and the mechanism of gene function was worked out