Gregor Mendel

Full Name: Gregor Johann Mendel
Profession: Biologist and Geneticist

Nationality:

Biography: Gregor Mendel was an Augustinian friar and scientist who served as abbot of St. Thomas' Abbey in Brno, Margraviate of Moravia. Mendel is often called the father of modern genetics for his study of the inheritance of traits in pea plants. His work laid the foundation for the modern understanding of genetics and heredity.

Mendel was born in a German-speaking family in Silesia, then part of the Austrian Empire. He entered an Augustinian monastery in Brno in 1843 and was later sent to the University of Vienna to study under the sponsorship of the monastery. There, he gained a solid foundation in scientific methods and research.

Between 1856 and 1863, Mendel cultivated and tested some 29,000 pea plants. He focused on seven characteristics of the pea plants, such as seed shape and flower color, observing that they were inherited independently of each other according to certain ratios. From these experiments, Mendel formulated the laws of inheritance: the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment.

Despite presenting his findings in 1865 and publishing them in 1866 in the Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Brünn, Mendel's work went largely unnoticed by the scientific community until its rediscovery in 1900. Scientists then recognized its significance: that Mendel had discovered the key principles of heredity.

Mendel's conclusions were drawn from mathematical patterns of inheritance and laid the groundwork for the field of genetics. What are today known as the principles of Mendelian genetics describe the way in which genetic material is passed from parents to offspring, an insight which forms the basis of modern genetics.

Born: July 20, 1822
Birthplace: Hynčice, Silesia, Austrian Empire
Star Sign: Cancer

Died: January 6, 1884 (aged 61)
Cause of Death: Nephritis