Gregor Mendel And The Laws Of Inheritance (T3) Flashcards
How was Gregor Mendel able to establish the laws of inheritance?
He noticed that many of the features of pea plants had just two alternative forms, eg: tall or short purple or white flowers etc..
He found that if he bred red-flowered plants with white flowered plants, all the offspring would be red.
However, if he then bred the plants from the first generation with each other, most would be red but some would be white.
This was because the allele (the heritable unit) for red flowers was dominant while the allele for white flowers was recessive.
From his experiments with plants, what two main features did Gregor Mendel note about inheritance?
- all the plants of the first generation (F1) were always of one type
- there was always a 3:1 ratio of type in the second generation
Who is Gregor Mendel and what is he famous for?
Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) was a monk who lived in what is now the Czech Republic.
He was interested in inheritance and after failed studies involving mice he went in to study the inheritance of different characteristics of pea plants.
As a result of these experiments, he was able to establish the laws of inheritance.
