WHO IS MENDEL?

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk who discovered the basic principles of heredity through experiments in
his garden. Mendel's observations became the foundation of modern genetics and the study of heredity, and he
is widely considered a pioneer in the field of genetics.
Synopsis
Gregor Mendel, known as the "father of modern genetics," was born in Austria in 1822. A monk, Mendel
discovered the basic principles of heredity through experiments in his monastery's garden. His experiments
showed that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, subsequently becoming the
foundation of modern genetics and leading to the study of heredity.

Early Life

Gregor Johann Mendel was born Johann Mendel on July 22, 1822, to Anton and Rosine Mendel, on his family’s
farm, in what was then Heinzendorf, Austria. He spent his early youth in that rural setting, until age 11, when a
local schoolmaster who was impressed with his aptitude for learning recommended that he be sent to secondary
school in Troppau to continue his education. The move was a financial strain on his family, and often a difficult
experience for Mendel, but he excelled in his studies, and in 1840, he graduated from the school with honors.

Following his graduation, Mendel enrolled in a two-year program at the Philosophical Institute of the University
of Olmütz. There, he again distinguished himself academically, particularly in the subjects of physics and math,
and tutored in his spare time to make ends meet. Despite suffering from deep bouts of depression that, more
than once, caused him to temporarily abandon his studies, Mendel graduated from the program in 1843.

That same year, against the wishes of his father, who expected him to take over the family farm, Mendel began
studying to be a monk: He joined the Augustinian order at the St. Thomas Monastery in Brno, and was given
the name Gregor. At that time, the monastery was a cultural center for the region, and Mendel was immediately
exposed to the research and teaching of its members, and also gained access to the monastery’s extensive library
and experimental facilities.

In 1849, when his work in the community in Brno exhausted him to the point of illness, Mendel was sent to fill
a temporary teaching position in Znaim. However, he failed a teaching-certification exam the following year,
and in 1851, he was sent to the University of Vienna, at the monastery’s expense, to continue his studies in the
sciences. While there, Mendel studied mathematics and physics under Christian Doppler, after whom the
Doppler effect of wave frequency is named; he studied botany under Franz Unger, who had begun using a
microscope in his studies, and who was a proponent of a pre-Darwinian version of evolutionary theory.

In 1853, upon completing his studies at the University of Vienna, Mendel returned to the monastery in Brno and
was given a teaching position at a secondary school, where he would stay for more than a decade. It was during
this time that he began the experiments for which he is best known.
WHAT IS MENDELIAN PRINCIPLE?

1. Fundamental theory of heredity

Inheritance involves the passing of discrete units of inheritance, or genes, from parents to offspring.
Mendel found that paired pea traits were either dominant or recessive. When pure-bred parent plants were
cross-bred, dominant traits were always seen in the progeny, whereas recessive traits were hidden until the first-
generation (F1) hybrid plants were left to self-pollinate. Mendel counted the number of second-generation (F2)
progeny with dominant or recessive traits and found a 3:1 ratio of dominant to recessive traits. He concluded
that traits were not blended but remained distinct in subsequent generations, which was contrary to scientific
opinion at the time.
Mendel didn’t know about genes or discover genes, but he did speculate that there were 2 factors for each
basic trait and that 1 factor was inherited from each parent.
We now know that Mendel’s inheritance factors are genes, or more specifically alleles – different variants of the
same gene. In today’s genetic language, a pure-breeding pea plant line is a homozygote – it has 2 identical
copies of the same allele. An F1 cross-bred pea plant is a heterozygote – it has 2 different alleles.
2. Principle of segregation
During reproduction, the inherited factors (now called alleles) that determine traits are separated into
reproductive cells by a process called meiosis and randomly reunite during fertilisation.
Mendel proposed that, during reproduction, the inherited factors must separate into reproductive cells. He had
observed that allowing hybrid pea plants to self-pollinate resulted in progeny that looked different from their
parents. Separation occurs during meiosis when the alleles of each gene segregate into individual reproductive
cells (eggs and sperm in animals, or pollen and ova in plants).
3. Principle of independent assortment
Genes located on different chromosomes will be inherited independently of each other.
Mendel observed that, when peas with more than one trait were crossed, the progeny did not always match the
parents. This is because different traits are inherited independently – this is the principle of independent
assortment. For example, he cross-bred pea plants with round, yellow seeds and plants with wrinkled, green
seeds. Only the dominant traits (yellow and round) appeared in the F1 progeny, but all combinations of trait
were seen in the self-pollinated F2 progeny. The traits were present in a 9:3:3:1 ratio (round, yellow: round,
green: wrinkled, yellow: wrinkled, green).
Exceptions to Mendel’s rules
There are some exceptions to Mendel’s principles, which have been discovered as our knowledge of genes and
inheritance has increased. The principle of independent assortment doesn’t apply if the genes are close together
(or linked) on a chromosome. Also, alleles do not always interact in a standard dominant/recessive way,
particularly if they are codominant or have differences in expressivity or penetrance.
DEFINE GENOTYPE,PHENOTYPE?
Genotype Examples
Genotype is what makes the trait - the information within a gene, or the genetic makeup of a specific organism.
Genotype is determined by the makeup of something called "alleles," a word that refers to the form of a gene that
produces different effects.
Genotype is the information contained within two alleles. Genotype is the genetic makeup of an organism and it
results in some of the physical characteristics of that organism.
Genotypes can only be determined by biological tests, not observations. Genotype is an inherited trait and
hereditary information passed by the parents determines genotype. The entire genetic information about an
organism is contained in a genotype - even those characteristics which are not expressed visually.
Examples of genotype are the genes responsible for:
 eye color
 hair color
 height
 how your voice sounds
 certain diseases
 certain behaviors
 the size of a bird's beak
 the length of a fox's tail
 the color of stripes on a cat
 the spots on a dog's back
 a person's shoe size
Phenotype Examples
Phenotype is what you see - the visible or observable expression of the results of genes, combined with
the environmental influence on an organism's appearance or behavior. For example:
 It is the expression of gene information which is observable with the senses (like the sound of a bird's
chirping or the color of a cat's hair)
Phenotype can be determined by mere, simple observation. Examples of phenotypes are the actual
visible characteristcs including
 Eye color
 Hair color
 Height
 Sound of your voice
 Certain types of disease
 Certain behaviors
 Size of a bird's beak
 Length of a fox's tail
 Color of the stripes on a cat
 Size and shape of the spots on a dog's back
 An individual's shoe siz