David DeNardo

10/4/10
Gregor Mendel
On July 20, 1822, in Heinzendorf, Austria, Gregor Mendel was born. He was the first
person to trace the characteristics of successive generations of a living thing, and his work
has now become the foundation for the science of genetics. The 1 st paragraph gives you
background information on Mendel and the 2nd paragraph shows why he was important to
Biology.

Upon graduation, Mendel realized that he needed additional schooling to begin a

career, so when he was18 he enrolled at the Olmutz Philosophical Institute. He was so
excellent in school, he went on to become a teacher. During those times most teachers were
priests, and in 1843, at the age of only 21, Mendel entered the monastery of St. Thomas, a
scientific and religious center in Brno, Austria. While there he excelled again, and he was
exposed to many scholars. Four years later in 1847 he was pronounced a priest. In 1851, the
monastery sent him to study at the University of Vienna to train to be a teacher in
Mathematics and Biology. However, Gregory failed the elementary teachers exam and
returned to Brno in 1845. That same year, he became a teacher at a technical college
institute.

During the middle of Mendel's life, he did new work on the theories of heredity.
Mendel was greatly inspired by his professors and colleagues to study the difference in
plants while at the University of Vienna. A few years later, he conducted studies on pea
plants in the monastery's gardens. These studies led to Mendel's Laws of Inheritance;
statements about the way certain characteristics are transmitted from one generation to
another in an organism. Most of Mendel’s fame came from his research in the monastery
garden during the years he spent there. His attraction to research was based on his love of
nature. His law of Assortment (which states that allele pairs separate independently during
the formation of gametes; reproductive cells that unite during sexual reproduction) and law
of Segregation ( which states that allele pairs separate or segregate during gamete formation,
and randomly unite at fertilization), are his best discoveries.

In conclusion, Gregor Mendel played a huge role in the underlying principles of

genetic inheritance. He made an enormous impact on Biology today. His admirable hard
work was very important to the science community, and to this day is still being studied.
This website was my source of information-http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Gregor-Mendel