Gregor Mendel Research Paper
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 1 The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics Sarah Joyce Carleton University
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 2 This year for the Carleton prize of biotechnology I nominate the Austrian born monk, teacher and biologist, Gregor Johann Mendel. It is no surprise that Mendel is a key figure in the evolution of biotechnology, one of the great scientists who believed a theory and proved it through his experiments with pea plants. In the early 19th century, these studies were not exactly encouraged, …show more content…
however, Mendel was about to discover the basic principles of heredity through experiments in his very own garden. (Editors, B.
n.d.)
Heredity, by definition, is the "passing on of a physical or mental characteristic from parents to offspring". (heredity. n.d.) This is what makes humans different from one another, from eye colour to height, or freckles to hair colour. These characteristics are not only obvious in humans but also in plants. We can see its colour, shape and size and these characteristics are what Mendel theorized as being inherited traits. It was only a matter if time, and thousands of plant samples, that Mendel would develop the law of genetics. (Diaz, n.d.)
Mendel's discoveries all began from the belief that all living organisms inherit traits equally from both parents. The world in the 19th century did not understand to the molecular level yet, that organisms hold these traits in very specific forms, to which when reproduction occurs, these traits are also inherited very specifically. This process was not fully understood before Mendel's academic career, however Mendel began experimenting on plants to prove his theory against the belief that genes are equally inherited. (Editors, B. n.d.)
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 3
Gregor Mendel's research began around 1854 after completing his studies at the
University of Vienna and becoming a teacher at a monastery in Brno, Austria. It was during this decade where Mendel studied the transmission of hereditary traits in plants.
(Editors, B. n.d.) The thousands of experiments Mendel conducted on pea plants that led to his discovery of dominant and recessive genes, was by breeding a pure-bred yellow seeded plant and a pure-bred green seeded plant together. What he found was that the plants only produced yellow seeded offspring. The question that arouse is why and how is this possible?
Mendel studied the more obvious trait of the pea plants, which is colour. (Corcos, Monaghan. 1993)
The first experiment that only produced yellow seeds, Mendel called the dominant gene. As a second experiment, Mendel bred the yellow offspring together allowing it to self-fertilize, which resulted in having both yellow and green seeded plants.
Again, we ask why and how is this possible? This question led Mendel to determine that the green colour trait was a recessive gene, hidden by the yellow dominant gene. (Diaz,
n.d.) After analyzing the results from his experiments it steered him to the most two important conclusions of genetics: the law of Segregation, and the law of Independent
Assortment. (Corcos, Monaghan. 1993)
In more modern terms, Mendel inferred that each trait depends on a pair of factors, each coming from the mother and the father. These factors are what we refer to now as "alleles" which represent the different variation of the gene. The different combinations of genes in these variations are what we now call "genotypes" meaning
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 4 that they either have both alleles from each parent or only the same ones from
one parent. Depending on which one is present, this will determine which of the traits the offspring will express. These obvious characteristics that we use to differentiate from one another are now called phenotypes. (Diaz, n.d.) Some of these advancements have been shown through gene therapy. For example, we can now locate and isolate genetic diseases that will be inherited in offspring. By learning more about how and where our genes come from, we can prevent offspring from inheriting mutated genes. (Friedmann,
Roblin. 1972) Another example of how we implemented Mendel's concepts, is through genetically engineered plants. By manipulating its genes we can produce plants and food with desired properties. These properties may vary between plants, for example we modified corn to be resistant to environmental factors. (Russell. 2013)
Mendel established the foundation of modern genetics which scientists have evolved upon to achieve many great medical advancements and, more importantly, improving the quality of life for humans. I believe Mendel to be a profound and well deserving nominee for the Carleton prize of biotechnology. The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 5
References
Friedmann, Theodore. Roblin, Richard. (1972). Gene Therapy for Human Genetic Disease? Science Magazine, Science 3 Volume 175 no. 4025. Retrieved October 06, 2015, from Science Magazine website: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/175/4025/949.short
How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics. (n.d.). Diaz, Hortensia Jimenez. Retrieved October 06, 2015, from Ted.com website: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-mendel-s-pea-plants-helped-us-understand-geneticshortensia-jimenez-diaz#review
Heredity. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved October 06, 2015, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/heredity
Editors, B. (n.d.). Gregor Mendel Biography. Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/gregor-mendel-39282
Corcos, Alain F., Monaghan, Floyd V. Gregor Mendel’s Experiments on Plant Hybrids A Guided Study. (1993). Retrieved from Google Books website, https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_la3H4GVn8MC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=gre gor+mendel&ots=Drvzh1P0U5&sig=MqOyx43vXTGTTmg1Ys4oJ1lopQg#v=onepage&q =gregor%20mendel&f=false
Russell, Adam. (2013) New Study: GMO Sweet Corn Rare in U.S Supermarkets, Retrieved October 06, 2015 from the Friends of the Earth website, http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2013-11-new-study-gmo-sweet-corn-rare-in-ussupermarkets
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 2 This year for the Carleton prize of biotechnology I nominate the Austrian born monk, teacher and biologist, Gregor Johann Mendel. It is no surprise that Mendel is a key figure in the evolution of biotechnology, one of the great scientists who believed a theory and proved it through his experiments with pea plants. In the early 19th century, these studies were not exactly encouraged, …show more content…
however, Mendel was about to discover the basic principles of heredity through experiments in his very own garden. (Editors, B.
n.d.)
Heredity, by definition, is the "passing on of a physical or mental characteristic from parents to offspring". (heredity. n.d.) This is what makes humans different from one another, from eye colour to height, or freckles to hair colour. These characteristics are not only obvious in humans but also in plants. We can see its colour, shape and size and these characteristics are what Mendel theorized as being inherited traits. It was only a matter if time, and thousands of plant samples, that Mendel would develop the law of genetics. (Diaz, n.d.)
Mendel's discoveries all began from the belief that all living organisms inherit traits equally from both parents. The world in the 19th century did not understand to the molecular level yet, that organisms hold these traits in very specific forms, to which when reproduction occurs, these traits are also inherited very specifically. This process was not fully understood before Mendel's academic career, however Mendel began experimenting on plants to prove his theory against the belief that genes are equally inherited. (Editors, B. n.d.)
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 3
Gregor Mendel's research began around 1854 after completing his studies at the
University of Vienna and becoming a teacher at a monastery in Brno, Austria. It was during this decade where Mendel studied the transmission of hereditary traits in plants.
(Editors, B. n.d.) The thousands of experiments Mendel conducted on pea plants that led to his discovery of dominant and recessive genes, was by breeding a pure-bred yellow seeded plant and a pure-bred green seeded plant together. What he found was that the plants only produced yellow seeded offspring. The question that arouse is why and how is this possible?
Mendel studied the more obvious trait of the pea plants, which is colour. (Corcos, Monaghan. 1993)
The first experiment that only produced yellow seeds, Mendel called the dominant gene. As a second experiment, Mendel bred the yellow offspring together allowing it to self-fertilize, which resulted in having both yellow and green seeded plants.
Again, we ask why and how is this possible? This question led Mendel to determine that the green colour trait was a recessive gene, hidden by the yellow dominant gene. (Diaz,
n.d.) After analyzing the results from his experiments it steered him to the most two important conclusions of genetics: the law of Segregation, and the law of Independent
Assortment. (Corcos, Monaghan. 1993)
In more modern terms, Mendel inferred that each trait depends on a pair of factors, each coming from the mother and the father. These factors are what we refer to now as "alleles" which represent the different variation of the gene. The different combinations of genes in these variations are what we now call "genotypes" meaning
The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 4 that they either have both alleles from each parent or only the same ones from
one parent. Depending on which one is present, this will determine which of the traits the offspring will express. These obvious characteristics that we use to differentiate from one another are now called phenotypes. (Diaz, n.d.) Some of these advancements have been shown through gene therapy. For example, we can now locate and isolate genetic diseases that will be inherited in offspring. By learning more about how and where our genes come from, we can prevent offspring from inheriting mutated genes. (Friedmann,
Roblin. 1972) Another example of how we implemented Mendel's concepts, is through genetically engineered plants. By manipulating its genes we can produce plants and food with desired properties. These properties may vary between plants, for example we modified corn to be resistant to environmental factors. (Russell. 2013)
Mendel established the foundation of modern genetics which scientists have evolved upon to achieve many great medical advancements and, more importantly, improving the quality of life for humans. I believe Mendel to be a profound and well deserving nominee for the Carleton prize of biotechnology. The Carleton Prize for Biotechnology: Gregor Johann Mendel; the Father of Genetics 5
References
Friedmann, Theodore. Roblin, Richard. (1972). Gene Therapy for Human Genetic Disease? Science Magazine, Science 3 Volume 175 no. 4025. Retrieved October 06, 2015, from Science Magazine website: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/175/4025/949.short
How Mendel's pea plants helped us understand genetics. (n.d.). Diaz, Hortensia Jimenez. Retrieved October 06, 2015, from Ted.com website: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-mendel-s-pea-plants-helped-us-understand-geneticshortensia-jimenez-diaz#review
Heredity. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged. Retrieved October 06, 2015, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/heredity
Editors, B. (n.d.). Gregor Mendel Biography. Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://www.biography.com/people/gregor-mendel-39282
Corcos, Alain F., Monaghan, Floyd V. Gregor Mendel’s Experiments on Plant Hybrids A Guided Study. (1993). Retrieved from Google Books website, https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=_la3H4GVn8MC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=gre gor+mendel&ots=Drvzh1P0U5&sig=MqOyx43vXTGTTmg1Ys4oJ1lopQg#v=onepage&q =gregor%20mendel&f=false
Russell, Adam. (2013) New Study: GMO Sweet Corn Rare in U.S Supermarkets, Retrieved October 06, 2015 from the Friends of the Earth website, http://www.foe.org/news/news-releases/2013-11-new-study-gmo-sweet-corn-rare-in-ussupermarkets