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| Gregor Mendel- Father of Genetics |
Did you know that;
Gregor Mendel was born on 20th
July, 1822 in German-speaking family in the Silesian part of the Austrian
Empire (which is known today as Czech Republic).
He had
two sisters; the family lived and worked on the farm they had owned for
generations (about 130 years).
He was known as the “Father of modern genetics” for his pioneering
research in the field of heredity
Gregor Mendel did well at school and university, where
he studied mathematics and physics.
His birth name was Johann Mendel, he
took the name Gregor upon entering religious life (when he became a monk)
Mendel work on heredity became the basis of
the modern theory of genetics.
Mendel is famous for his plant experiments
which helped to establish some of the now accepted laws of heredity.
Gregor Mendel, who
is known as the "Father of Modern
Genetics", was inspired by both his professors at the Palacký
University, Olomouc (Friedrich Franz and Johann Karl Nestler), and his
colleagues at the monastery to study variation in plants
Mendel carried out his experiments with the
common edible pea in his small garden plot in the monastery. These
experiments were begun in 1856 and completed some eight years later.
In his experiment,
he recognized seven distinct characteristics that remained consistent over
generations in purebred varieties. These characteristics included: height of
the plant, shape of the pod, shape of the seed, size and colour of the seeds,
etc.
He cross-pollinated the plants with contrasting characteristics in order
to study the effects on the offspring. He also took due precaution to prevent
accidental pollination by insects. He cultivated thousands of pea plants over
the course of his experiments.
He collected the seeds of the offspring and analyzed them for variations
in colour, shape, and size. He also compared the plants for differences in
height.
Mendel discovered that by crossing tall and
short parent plants he got hybrid offspring that resembled the tall parent
rather than being a medium height blend. His explanation towards this conceived
the concept of heredity units, now called genes.
He developed the concepts of dominant and recessive genes that explain
how genetic traits are passed along from generation to generation.
Mendel through his extensive experimentation and analysis founded the
three laws or principles of inheritance: The law of segregation, the law of
dominance, and the law of independent assortment.
For about eight years, he carefully examined the plants, pods and seeds and
made observations that later form the foundation for the study of modern genetics.
He presented the results of his experiments at the Natural History
Society of Brno in 1865. The results of his findings were published in a paper
‘Experiments on Plant Hybridization’
in 1866.
Gregor Mendel’s works failed to gain much importance during his
lifetime, but formed the foundation for what is today known as Mendel’s Laws of
Inheritance.
The rest of Mendel’s life was dedicated to
the duties of the monastery. He continued with some breeding experiments, but
with bees.
Mendel died in 1884 aged 62. The new abbot of
the Monastery burned all of Mendel's papers.
Scientists who did research later found that
Mendel’s results do not only apply to pea plants.
Trait inheritance in most
plants and animals, including humans, follows the patterns Mendel recorded.
Mendel’s Conclusions
Mendel’s most important conclusions were:
- The
inheritance of each trait is determined by something (which we now call
genes) passed from parent to offspring unchanged. In other words, genes
from parents do not ‘blend’ in the offspring.
- For each
trait, an organism inherits one gene from each parent.
- Although a
trait may not appear in an individual, but the gene that can cause the
trait is still there, so the trait can appear again in a future
generation.
In Mendel’s honor, these very common patterns
of heredity are now called Mendelian
Inheritance.
References
Bowler, P. J. (2003). Evolution: the history of an
idea. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23693-9.
Gregor, M., Alain, F., Corcos, Floyd, V. M. & Maria,
C. W. (1993). "Gregor Mendel's Experiments on Plant Hybrids: A Guided
Study", Rutgers University Press.
Hasan, H. (2004). Mendel and The Laws Of Genetics. The Rosen Publishing
Group. ISBN 9781404203099.
Labels: Educative Article
