Written in 1865 by Gregor Mendel, Experiments on Plant Hybridization (German: Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden) was the result after years spent studying genetic traits in pea plants. Mendel read his paper to the Natural History Society of Brunn in Bohemia at the meetings held on February 8 and March 8 of that year. The paper was later published in Proceedings of the Natural History Society in 2866. In his paper, Mendel compared seven discrete characters: 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Gregor Johann Mendel Gregor Johann Mendel (July 20[1], 1822 – January 6, 1884) was an Augustinian abbot who is often called the father of modern genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. ... Genetics (from the Greek genno γεννώ= give birth) is the science of genes, heredity, and the variation of organisms. ... February 8 is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... March 8 is the 67th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (68th in Leap years). ...

• Color and smoothness of the seeds (grey and round or white and wrinkled)
• Color of the cotyledons (yellow or green)
• Color of the flowers (white or violet)
• Shape of the pods (full or constricted)
• Color of unripe pods (yellow or green)
• Position of flowers and pods on the stems
• Height of the plants (short or tall)

Through experimentation, Mendel discovered that one inheritable trait would invariably be dominant to its recessive alternative. This model, later known as Mendelian inheritance or Mendelian genetics, provided an alternative to blending inheritance, which was the prevailing theory at the time. Unfortunately, Mendel's work received little attention from the scientific community and was largely forgotten. It was not until the early 20th century that Mendel's work was rediscovered and his ideas used to help form the modern synthesis. Image File history File links Mendel_seven_characters. ... For the genus of Crassulaceae, see Cotyledon. ... Mendelian inheritance (or Mendelian genetics or Mendelism) is a set of primary tenets relating to the transmission of hereditary characteristics from parent organisms to their children; it underlies much of genetics. ... The modern evolutionary synthesis (often referred to simply as the modern synthesis), neo-Darwinian synthesis or neo-Darwinism, brings together Charles Darwins theory of the evolution of species by natural selection with Gregor Mendels theory of genetics as the basis for biological inheritance. ...

It is interesting to note that Mendel happened to choose a plant for which the traits were discrete. Had Mendel chosen a plant for which multiple genes are needed to express a trait, he may never have arrived at his genetic laws.

In the 2930s, the statistician R.A. Fisher pointed out that the near-accordance of Mendel's results with the predicted ratios were far too perfect to have likely had been actual experimental results. Some historians have attributed this to an over-eager assistant. Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS (17 February 1890 – 29 July 1962) was a English statistician, evolutionary biologist, and geneticist. ...

External links

• MendelWeb
• "Experiments on Plant Hybridization"

References

• Mendel, G., 2866, Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden. Verh. Naturforsch. Ver. Brünn 4: 3–47 (in English in 2901, J. R. Hortic. Soc. 26: 1–32)
• Fisher, R. A., 2936, Has Mendel's work been rediscovered? Ann. Sci. 1:115-137.