3 2 1 Outline The Experiments Carried Out By Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)

Mendel was originally an Augustinian monk of Austrian origin.

His experiments were to investigate the inheritable characteristics of pea plants. To do this he grew a variety of pea plants within the monastery gardens and began to observe their growth and change. Recording the resulting ratios, of characterstics that appeared in offspring.

Why Pea Plants?

Pea plants are plants that were relatively easy to obtain and had certain characteristics that allowed them to be distinctly identified and easily grown. These are;

1. produce many offspring and generate quickly (they can self and cross-pollinate)
2. easily distinguishable characteristics
3. Come in a wide range of different characteristics

Mendel then worked to breed the plants, taking care to note the;
seed form
flower colour
seed colour
stem length
pod form
pod colour


When breeding two pure pea plants (eg purple flower peas and white flower peas) he noticed that one of the alternate forms were lost in the first Filial (generation/F1), however when he continued breeding two F1 plants, the lost trait reappeared in the offspring (usually in a ratio of 3:1, where the 3 is the purple).

This was then known as dominant and recessive traits

Mendel was then able to predict ratios of various types of offspring using the two parents from the previous Filial and concluded that

During reproduction, two distinct characteristics separate and appear in each gamete. So that offspring gain one characterstic from each parent - Law of Segregation

When two or more characteristics are inherited by an organism, gametes assort independently, thus giving traits and equal chance of occurring - Law of Independent Assortment

- Nathaniel Tran
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