Who was Gregor

Mendel?

(And why was his work

so important?)
 Gregor
Mendel

Gregor Mendel
was a monk who
lived in the
1800s
 Mendel’s Mind Wandered…

Mendel wondered how the same

species of plants could have different
characteristics

Characteristic is a trait that makes

the plant (and you) look a certain way
 Mendel began to think…
Mendel wondered about the Characteristics
that appeared with each generation

He wondered if they were “heritable

features” – “Heritable” means they are
inherited (passed down) from parents to
children

Some traits appeared more often with the

same parent plants

Mendel wondered why…

 Pea Plants
Mendel performed an experiment and chose pea
plants to use

He chose pea plants because he could identify

seven pairs of contrasting traits found among
typical garden peas:

Seed color (yellow or green)

Seed shape (smooth or wrinkled)
Pod color (yellow or green)
Pod shape (inflated or pinched)
Flower color (purple or white)
Flower position (middle or end)
Stem height (tall or short)
Either or….
One or the other…
Easy to see AND collect data!
 Watching the plants grow…
For two years, Mendel
grew different
varieties of peas to
make sure that their
offspring were always
the same

This meant that the

plants he used were
purebred

Purebred means an
organism always
produces the same
traits in its offspring
Think about purebred dogs…
When you purchase a purebred dog, you receive
a record of their family tree so you know who
their parents and grandparents and great
grandparents were!
Proof that the dog is purebred.
 Patience is a virtue
After recording his observations over a couple of
years, Mendel decided to breed different
varieties together to make hybrids

Hybrid means it’s a “mix” - a “cross” - of

different traits
(Think… Hybrid cars!)
He made these hybrids by cross-pollinating plants
with different characteristics

Cross-pollinating means “mating” (crossing) two

different plants of the same species
White flower x Purple flower
Smooth pea x Wrinkled pea
Cross-pollinating (making hybrids)

Mendel brushed the

pollen off yellow pea
plants and put it on
green pea plants

He did the same for

plants with each of the
seven pairs of traits

He then grew generation

after generation of
hybrids and tracked the
appearance of the
different traits
 His Findings…
Crossing Hybrids gives a
3 to 1 ratio of traits in
offspring!
 Crossing Characteristics
Mendel crossed many different traits and
carefully recorded the traits of the
offspring

He determined that each parent supplies one

“unit” or “factor” for each different
trait…

Somehow…
Some traits seemed
to disappear in the
first generation but
reappear later…
 Recessive and Dominant

The traits that disappeared in the first

generation of hybrids he called “Recessive.”

He called those that always appear,

“Dominant.”

In later generations the

recessive traits reappeared in
a predictable pattern.

For example, later generations of plants had

one green pea for every three yellow peas.
The same ratio appeared for all seven
pairs of traits.
 Pea Soup Anyone?
Mendel grew an estimated 28,000 pea plants
over eight years.

He recorded the traits of parent generations

(P) as well as the traits of the first
generation (F1)

(F1) is the “First Filial” generation: the first

offspring to be born

Can you guess what the second generation

was listed as? _____________
 What Mendel Discovered
Mendel discovered that
traits are inherited

And it occurs in a
consistent pattern

Mendel used math to figure

out what was going on in
the cell and how the
“factors” (traits) would be
passed on.

See????? Math IS
useful!!!!
 The “Father of Genetics”
He published his results, observations and
conclusions

These are now known as Mendel’s Laws

Mendel's laws of heredity work with other

organisms as well

They form the basis of modern genetics

Even though Mendel knew nothing about genes

and DNA, we call him the
“Father of Genetics”
Now called “Genetics”
Mendel used the terms
“unit”, “factor” and “element”
to describe how traits are
inherited (passed) from
parents to offspring

Today, we call these “units”

GENES (DNA)

Genes are found on our

chromosomes (in the
nucleus of our cells) and are
made up of DNA (which is
made of nucleotides!)
 What are Genes, Anyway?
Genes are the basic “unit” of heredity

They are a sequence of DNA that causes a

certain characteristic to appear in an
organism

Genetics is the science of genes, traits and

heredity

Genetics is the
study of how traits
are inherited
(through genes)
from one generation
to another
 The Punnett Square
Mendel found out that
every trait is controlled by
two “elements” (genes)

One from one parent and one

from the other parent

Now, the “Punnett Square”

is used to show how
different traits are passed
from one generation to the
next

This is called Probability

The chance that a given
event will occur
 Predictable Ratios

Mendel repeated his experiments over and over

and the F2 generation always had a 3:1 ratio
of yellow to green or round to wrinkly

Mendel then crossed plants that differed in

more than one trait: round, yellow peas with
wrinkled, green one, or tall, violet- flowered
plants with short, white-flowered ones

These traits appeared in predictable ratios, too

 Dominant & Recessive
Mendel determined that, in order to show-up,
a Dominant trait needs only one trait
“unit” from one of the parents

A dominant trait can “cover up” (mask) a

recessive trait

Dominant is stronger, more powerful

The Recessive trait needs two “units”, from

both parents, in order to show up in the
next generation

Recessive is “weak”, possessing little

power/influence
 Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance
Mendel came up with these important
conclusions known as Mendel’s Laws:

The Law of Dominance states that some unit

characters can mask the expression of
others.

The Law of Segregation states that each

unit character separates into a different sex
cell.

The Law of Independent Assortment states

that genes segregate (separate) according to
chance.
 The Vocabulary of Genetics
The genetic make-up of an organism is called
its “genotype”

It is the type of genes found in the cell

The appearance of the organism that is

determined by its genotype is called its
“phenotype”

It is how the organism looks (appears) on the

outside
 Homologous Pairs
When making a new organism, one gene from
the mother matches up with a “similar” gene
from the father

These genes are called “homologous” pairs

Homologous means similar (in length, size,

genetic make up, etc…)

The homologous “genes” are found on

chromosomes – so, if homologous genes pair
up, they create homologous chromosomes!
 Genes Vs. Alleles
A gene is a section of DNA which codes for a
certain characteristic, such as height.

Genes, however, can have variations and this is

where alleles come in…
Height can be either tall or short

Alleles are different versions of a gene.

For example, a tall allele or a short allele.

They are the different sequences of DNA that

determine a single characteristic (height).

They occur in pairs (one from one parent, one

from the other) and can be classified as recessive
or dominant.
 More Vocab!
Homozygous means that the two alleles
(genes) for an organism are exactly the same
(TT or tt).

Also known as Purebred…

Heterozygous means that the two alleles for

an organism are different (Tt).

Also known as Hybrid…

 Heredity

Heredity is the passing of traits from one

generation to another”.

Inherited traits are passed (genetically),

from the parent generation to the
offspring
 How do Geneticists figure it out?
Geneticists use letters to represent alleles.

The same letter is used to indicate both

alleles.
A capital letter = a Dominant trait
A lowercase letter = a Recessive trait

Examples:
Flower color: P= purple, p= white
Seed color: Y= yellow, y = green
Seed shape: W = wrinkled, w = round
 In humans….
Widow's peak: W = widow's peak, w = continuous
hairline

Freckles: F = freckles, f = no freckles

Earlobes: E = unattached, e = attached

Thumbs: H = hitch-hiker, h = non-hitch-hiker

Cleft chin: C = cleft chin, c = no cleft chin

Hair on Fingers: F = hair, f = no hair

Spock Fingers: S = spock yes, s = spock no

Handedness: R = right handed, r = left handed

 Genes & Mutations

Each gene carries a separate piece of

information
DNA codes for all genes

Changes in the sequence of the DNA molecule

(and therefore the gene) are called mutations

A mutation may change the manner in which a

trait is expressed by an organism.
So, a mutation in the genotype, changes
the phenotype

Remember that not all mutations are bad!