Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics because of his important experiments that helped us understand heredity, or how traits are passed down from parents to their kids.
Mendel chose to study pea plants. This was a smart choice because these plants have clear traits, like color and shape, that are easy to see.
He did experiments by crossing different types of these pea plants. He carefully observed the traits of the pea plants’ offspring over several generations. From this work, he discovered two important ideas: the "Law of Segregation" and the "Law of Independent Assortment."
Mendel found out that traits are passed down in separate units, which we now call genes.
One of his famous examples is when he crossed pure yellow pea plants with pure green ones. In the first generation of plants (called F1), all the peas were yellow. This showed that the yellow trait was dominant over the green trait.
Then, in the second generation (called F2), he noticed a pattern. For every four peas, three were yellow and one was green. This 3:1 ratio clearly showed how traits are inherited from parents.
Although Mendel published his findings in 1866, not many people noticed his work at that time. It took many years before scientists realized how important his discoveries were. Now, we know that his research is the foundation of modern genetics, and it continues to influence studies about heredity and evolution today.
Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics because of his important experiments that helped us understand heredity, or how traits are passed down from parents to their kids.
Mendel chose to study pea plants. This was a smart choice because these plants have clear traits, like color and shape, that are easy to see.
He did experiments by crossing different types of these pea plants. He carefully observed the traits of the pea plants’ offspring over several generations. From this work, he discovered two important ideas: the "Law of Segregation" and the "Law of Independent Assortment."
Mendel found out that traits are passed down in separate units, which we now call genes.
One of his famous examples is when he crossed pure yellow pea plants with pure green ones. In the first generation of plants (called F1), all the peas were yellow. This showed that the yellow trait was dominant over the green trait.
Then, in the second generation (called F2), he noticed a pattern. For every four peas, three were yellow and one was green. This 3:1 ratio clearly showed how traits are inherited from parents.
Although Mendel published his findings in 1866, not many people noticed his work at that time. It took many years before scientists realized how important his discoveries were. Now, we know that his research is the foundation of modern genetics, and it continues to influence studies about heredity and evolution today.