Gregor Mendel

Who was Gregor Mendel?
Gregor Mendel was an important scientist who developed a method of cross-pollination when he was in Eastern Europe. He was born in 1822 and died in 1884.

What did Gregor Mendel do that was important to genetics?
Gregor Mendel did many things that were important to genetics. First of all, he experimented with pea plants. By experimenting with pea plants he discovered the method of cross-pollination. He picked pea plants to experiment with for many reasons. He picked them because they grew easily in large numbers and their reproduction could be manipulated. In a pea plant there is both male and female reproductive organs. This means that they can either self-pollinate themselves or they can cross-pollinate with another plant. In Mendel's experiments he was able to cross-pollinate purebred plants with traits. He also discovered what happens in the transmission of heredity traits from parents to children. He learned that some traits of parents don't pass onto their offspring.

What are some results that he came up with after experimenting with pea plants?
After experimenting with pea plants Gregor learned that the first offspring generation always have yellow pea plants. The second generation always has a ratio of 3:1 of yellow to green offspring.

What are the three main conclusions that Mendel came up with in his life?
He learned that the inheritance of each trait is determined by the genes that are passed on to the offspring unchanged. Mendel discovered that an individual inherits one unit, from each parent, for each trait. Lastly, he learned that a trait might not show up in an individual, but can still be passed onto the next generation.


http://anthro.palomar.edu/mendel/mendel_1.htm