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Whose Work Established the Laws of Heredity?
biologyscience
Quick Answer
Gregor Mendel's pea plant experiments in the 1850s–60s established the laws of inheritance.
The Full Story
Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel conducted experiments on pea plants (Pisum sativum) at his monastery in Brno (now Czech Republic) between 1856 and 1863, discovering the fundamental laws of inheritance: the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment. He tracked traits like flower colour, seed shape, and plant height across about 29,000 plants. His 1866 paper was largely ignored during his lifetime. It was independently rediscovered around 1900 by Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, and Erich von Tschermak, launching the science of genetics.
Key Facts
1.Mendel's work lay unrecognised for 34 years.
2.He studied seven carefully chosen traits in about 29,000 pea plants over eight years.
3.The term "gene" was not coined until 1909, by Danish botanist Wilhelm Johannsen.
YouTube Angle
Suggested video title for this topic:
"The Monk Who Cracked the Code of Life — Mendel's Pea Experiments"