Publication details

Gregor J. Mendel – Genetics Founding Father

Authors

SCHWARZBACH Erik SMÝKAL Petr DOSTÁL Ondřej JARKOVSKÁ Michaela VALOVÁ Simona

Year of publication 2014
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source Czech Journal of Genetics and Plant Breeding
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Science

Citation
Web https://www.agriculturejournals.cz/publicFiles/124110.pdf
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.17221/54/2014-CJGPB
Keywords heredity; hybridization; manuscript; Mendel; Pisum
Description Mendel's impact on science is overwhelming. Although based on the number of scientific papers he published he might be considered a meteorologist, his most significant contribution is his study of plant hybrids. This single work puts Mendel on a par with Darwin's evolutionary theory and establishes him firmly in the frame of today's biology. The aim of this article is to introduce the personality of Gregor Johann Mendel, focussing not just on his scientific work, but also on his background and what or who influenced him. To understand Mendel's use of quantification and mathematical analysis of obtained results, representing a radical departure from methods of his predecessors, it is important to know something about their arguments, beliefs, and practices. He designed his experiments to answer a long standing question of hybridization, not inheritance as we perceive it today, since the science of genetics was born considerably later. He studied many genera of plants, but his famous research was on garden peas. To choose a single species for his crosses was fundamental to his success, but also fuelled most of criticism at the time he presented his results. The reason for his success was partly due to being a hybrid himself: of a biological scientist, a physical scientist and a mathematician. Mendel's other fields of interest such as meteorology and bee keeping are also introduced in this article.

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