GREGOR MENDEL

Aya El-Husseini

BACKGROUND Gregor Johann Mendel was born in Hyncice, Moravia on 22 July1822 . The only son of a peasant farmer, Mendel attended local schools and the Philosophic Institute at Olomouc. In 1843, he entered the Augustinian Order at St. Thomas Monastery in Brünn and began his studies at the Brünn Theological College.

Mendel died in Brünn on 6 January 1884.

DISCOVERIES

Gregor Mendel was a monk in Austria who raised peas in the monastery gardens. While breeding his peas, he made some big discoveries. They were discoveries about genetics.

The peas had several traits he could see. Some plants were tall and some were short. Some had wrinkled pods and some had smooth pods. Some pods were green and some where yellow. The flowers were white or purple.

Gregor Mendel looked at each trait and learned how they were passed down to the offspring plants. Since plants breed using pollen, Mendel controlled which plants pollinated other plants. This was how he discovered many important genetic rules.

First he learned that some traits showed up more often and he called them dominant traits. The traits that showed up less often he called recessive traits. He discovered that if tall plants and short plants bred, they made a mixed or hybrid offspring plant.

Hybrid plants are different from dominant plants even if they looked the same. Each gene has two chances at a trait - two copies or alleles. So, for example, a hybrid plant might be tall like its dominant parent, but it still could have an allele for shortness that you don't see.

When two tall hybrid plants breed, one in four of the offspring are short. Gregor Mendel saw this and it is still taught in basic genetics classes today.

EXPLANATION

By observing how the parents traits effect the child, Gregor Mendel discovered the laws of genetics.

BENEFIT TO SOCIETY

Gregor Mendel's great contribution was in the concept of genetic inheritance. Knowing that traits are hereditary has helped farmers, and every type of animal breeder. If farmers want to grow a tall plant, they know which plants to breed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY (MLA)

I used two sites for my information and pictures:

"Villanova University - Gregor Mendel." Villanova University Astronomy & Astrophysics. Web. 22 Sept. 2011. http://astro4.ast.vill.edu/mendel/gregor.htm."Exploring Nature Educational Resource." Exploring Nature Educational Resource: A Natural Science Resource for Students and Educators. Web. 21 Sept. 2011. http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=22