1. Gregor Mendel
The Father of Genetics

2. 1. Who was Gregor Mendel?
He was an Augustinian monk who later became the abbot of his monastery.
The Abbey of Saint Thomas and its Church in the year 1926.

3. When & where was he born?
He was born in 1822 in what is now the Czech Republic.

4. 3. What did Mendel do for a living?
He was educated as a math & science teacher, and became interested in botany (plants). He did research on plants in the monastery.
4. What is his title?
He is the “Father of Genetics.”

5. The abbey garden where Gregor Mendel conducted his experiments.

6. 5. What species of plant did he mainly study?
He studied pea plants.
6. What size plants did he study?
He studied dwarf (short) and tall plants.

7. 7. What characteristics of the plants did he study?
Height (tall or short)
Flower position (on side of stem or on top of stem)
Flower color (white or purple)
Seed color (green or yellow)
Seed shape (round or wrinkled)
Seed pod color (yellow or green)
Seed pod shape (inflated or constricted)

9. How long did he study these plants?
He studied them for about 8 years.
What sparked his interest in these plants?
He noticed that he got offspring with different characteristics than their parents, and he wanted to know why.

10. 8. What happened when he bred 2 pure dwarf plants?
100% of the offspring were dwarf-sized.
9. What happened when he bred 2 pure tall plants?
100% of the offspring were tall.

11. 10. What happened when he bred 1 pure dwarf with 1 pure tall plant?
100% of the offspring were tall!
(This was incredible!)
11. What happened when he bred the offspring of this match?
3 out of every 4 plants were tall, but 1 out of every 4 plants was short!!

12. What percentage of the offspring were tall from this breeding?
What percentage of the offspring were dwarf from this breeding?
BUT 25% were short!! (Again, incredible.)

13. 12. Why did Mendel stop his work?
He became too stout to successfully tend his plants, and he had increased responsibilities due to his promotion to head abbot. Also, although he had published his findings in a scientific journal in 1865, his work was ignored.
13. When did Mendel die?
He died in 1884, unsuccessful & alone.

14. 14. When was Mendel’s work discovered?
He work was not discovered until 1900, when 3 other scientists who had been looking at similar patterns stumbled upon Mendel’s research. They rightfully gave him credit as being the founding father for this new field in science.