Johann Mendel, a monk in St. Thomas' monastery in Brno, Vienna, has a wide interests from religion to botany and mathematics. In 1866, he published the results of a series of experiments that laid the foundation of Genetics. In the following years and early 20th century, he established the concept of the gene as a distinct heredity unit and methods by which genes are transmitted from parents to offspring. These concepts or principles are now known as Mendelian or Transmission Genetics.
Mendel's experiments
Mendel decided to use garden pea (Pisum sativum) to test his idea about inheritance.
Why garden pea?
1. Pure-bred varieties are available
2. Well-defined characteristics
3. Reproduce well
4. Hermaphroditic flower - both male and female
He worked with seven visible characters which were each represented by two contrasting forms / traits:
1. Seed shape (round / wrinkled)
2. Seed colour (yellow / green)
3. Pod shape (inflated / constricted)
4. Pod colour (green / yellow)
5. Flower colour (violet / white)
6. Flower position (axial / terminal)
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