Page 12 - St. Joseph Messenger November 2020

Gregor Mendel - Father of Modern Genetics

Pioneer in the Field of Genetics

T
he Father of Modern Genetics was an
Austrian monk by the name of Gregor
Mendel. His studies gave us our foundation
for genetics and heredity. Mendel lived on a farm
until the age of eleven when a teacher recognized
his brilliance and suggested he attend a more
suitable secondary school from which he graduated
with honors.

He then enrolled in the Philosophical Institute of
the University of Olmütz where he excelled in
physics and math. Although he suffered from
depression and had to temporarily abandon his
studies several times, he did graduate from the
program in 1843.

Mendel Becomes a Monk
Despite the wishes of his father that he return to
the family farm, Mendel studied to become a
monk. He joined the Augustinian order at St. He cross-fertilized pea plants of opposite charac-
Thomas Monastery in Brno, a place which was a teristics. For example, he cross-fertilized tall and
short plants, green and yellow plants, smooth and
cultural center for the region. It was here that he
had access to research and experiments which wrinkled plants, etc. The results of this research
would give him the impetus to begin scientific and experimentation resulted in his developing the
research of his own. Law of Segregation. This law established the
existence of dominant and recessive traits. Another
He was assigned work as a parish priest, but the law developed called the Law of Independent
stress of visiting the sick and the dying took its toll Assortment, which established that traits were
on him. His superiors found him a teaching posi- passed on independently of other traits from parent
tion instead and he excelled, although he failed the to offspring.
certification exam twice.

Experimentation Begins
In 1854, the abbot of his monastery allowed him to
take on an experimental program involving hybrid-
ization. Mendel chose to conduct his studies with
the pea because of the variety of edible peas that
existed. Mendel’s experiments were based on his
previous studies of physics and mathematics,
which served him well in the type of research he
took on.

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