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The Father of Genetics
Sean D. Pitman M.D.
© May 2002 
“Pea hybrids form germinal and pollen cells that in their composition correspond inequal numbers to all the constant forms resulting from the combination of traits united through fertilization.” 
 Gregor Johann Mendel was born on July 22,1822 to peasant parents in a small agrarian town inCzechoslovakia. During his childhood he worked asa gardener, and as a young man attended theOlmutz Philosophical Institute. In 1843 he entered anAugustinian monastery in Brunn, Czechoslovakia.Soon afterward, his natural interest in science andspecifically hereditary science led him to start
 
experiments with the pea plant. Mendel's attraction for scientific research was based onhis love of nature in general. He was not only interested in plants, but also inmeteorology and theories of evolution. However, it is his work with the pea plant thatchanged the world of science forever.His beautifully designed experiments with pea plants were the first to focus on thenumerical relationships among traits appearing in the progeny of hybrids. Hisinterpretation for this phenomenon was that material and unchanging hereditary“elements” undergo segregation and independent assortment. These elements arethen passed on unchanged (except in arrangement) to offspring thus yielding a verylarge, but finite number of possible variations.Mendel often wondered how plants obtained atypical characteristics. On one of hisfrequent walks around the monastery, he found an atypical variety of an ornamentalplant. He took it and planted it next to the typical variety. He grew their progeny side byside to see if there would be any approximation of the traits passed on to the nextgeneration. This experiment was “designed to support or to illustrate Lamarck's viewsconcerning the influence of environment upon plants.” He found that the plants'respective offspring retained the essential traits of the parents, and therefore were notinfluenced by the environment. This simple test gave birth to the idea of heredity.Overshadowing the creative brilliance of Mendel's work is the fact that it was virtuallyignored for 34 years. Only after the dramatic rediscovery of Mendel’s work in 1900 (16years after Mendel's death) was he rightfully recognized as the founder of genetics.
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Why Peas?
Pisum sativum
 
Mendel was well aware that there were certain preconditions that had to becarefully established before commencing investigations into the inheritance of characteristics. The parental plants must be known to possess constant anddifferentiating characteristics. To establish this condition, Mendel took an entire year totest “true breeding” (non-hybrid) family lines, each having constant characteristics. Theexperimental plants also needed to produce flowers that would be easy to protectagainst foreign pollen. The special shape of the flower of the
Leguminosae
family, withtheir enclosed styles, drew his attention. On trying several from this family, he finallyselected the garden pea plant (
Pisum sativum)
as being most ideal for his needs.
M
endel also picked the common garden pea plant because it can be grown in largenumbers and its reproduction can be manipulated. As with many other flowering plants,pea plants have both male and female reproductive organs. As a result, they can either self-pollinate themselves or cross-pollinate with other plants. In his experiments, Mendelwas able to selectively cross-pollinate purebred plants with particular traits and observethe outcome over many generations. This was the basis for his conclusions about thenature of genetic inheritance.
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 Mendel observed seven pea plant traits that are easily recognized in one of two forms:
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