Gregor Mendel, the founder of modern genetics, had no idea that his experiments on peas in the Brno monastery garden would lead him to a great discovery in biology. Mendel discovered the laws governing the transmission of hereditary traits from one generation to another, which are still used as the basis for understanding gene inheritance today.
In this article, we will shed light on the life of Mendel, known as the founder of the modern science of genetics; we will delve into his marvelous contributions that changed the course of scientific history and lit the path for many scientists who came after him.
His Birth and Early life
Gregor Mendel was born in 1822 in a small village in Austria to a modest family and grew up on his family's farm. When he reached the age of eleven, his family sent him to a high school outside his village to complete his studies, based on the school principal’s nomination for his excellence and passion for science. Mendel then enrolled in a two-year program at the University of Olomouc, where he showed his brilliance in mathematics and physics. Although he went through some periods of depression that sometimes caused him to drop out of school, he was able to graduate.
Mendel joined the monastery in Brno, which served as a cultural and scientific center in the region; he was able to continue his studies while working as a high school teacher and had access to the monastery's extensive library. Mendel traveled to study science and mathematics at the University of Vienna, but was unable to obtain a teaching certificate, so he returned to the Brno monastery and during this period was able to conduct his experiments on peas in the monastery garden.
His experiments and discovery of the laws of heredity
Before Mendel's laws, it was known that hereditary traits were a diluted mixture of traits resulting from random mixing between traits present in the parents, and that hybrid traits would gradually revert over generations to their original form, meaning that the hybrid was unable to create new traits.
Mendel chose to conduct his experiments on peas because of their rapid reproduction and their many characteristics, which were clearly contradictory, such as stem length, seed shape and color, and flower color, and because they were easily pollinated, both self- and externally.
From his experiments, Mendel concluded three main laws that control the transmission of hereditary traits, which are:
- Law of Segregation
It states that genetic traits are separately passed from parents to offspring; meaning that there are two factors for each basic trait, one factor inherited from each parent.
- Law of Independent Assortment
It states that traits are independently transmitted from parents to offspring, allowing greater variation in traits across generations.
- Law of Dominance
It states that the trait that is visible in the offspring is known as the dominant trait and the one that is not visible is known as the recessive trait.
Mendel’s Death and his Legacy
Mendel's research found little echo until his death in 1884, perhaps because his methods were sophisticated and the scientific community was unprepared to understand the complexities of genetics at the time. Mendel wrote: “My scientific work has given me a great deal of satisfaction and I am sure that the whole world will recognize the results of these studies”. Indeed, Mendel’s prophecy was fulfilled in 1900 when his laws were rediscovered by other researchers who realized that Mendel had arrived at the foundations of genetics decades earlier.
Thanks to Mendel, scientists succeeded in developing some fields such as genetic engineering and Mendelian inheritance. Mendel's legacy is not restricted to the laws he discovered, but manifested in his persistence and hard work for 8 years. He proved that great discoveries may come from the simplest remarks and that constant pursuit will yield the desired results even after a while, and that failure is the first step towards success.
References
biography.com
britannica.com
newscientist.com
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
shutterstock.com
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