Research Paper On Gregor Mendel

The Life and Works of Gregor Mendel

Gregor Mendel was an Austrian Monk and scientist who is often referred to as the “Father of Genetics.” He was born on July, 22, 1822 in Heizendorf, Austria now known as Hyncice the Czech Republic. He was born into a poor pheasant family. Due to his farm-oriented upbringing, Mendel had shared an interest with the study of hybridization from the very young age of nine or ten. He became a monk at a monastery in Brunn, Moravis (now Brno in the Czech Republic. This was where he was given the name Gregor, the monastery belonged to the Augustinian Order of St. Thomas. While at the monastery, Mendel became interested with selective breeding in animals. Many people involved in the church believed that such experimentation was tampering with God’s way of life. They believed that certain experiments were acceptable in plants but such experiments with animals were not found acceptable in the church. Mendel was sent to study at the University of Vienna to get a teaching diploma. The Abbot had arranged this opportunity for Mendel so he could have a better understanding of the scientific realm. Unfortunately, Mendel did not do so well at the school and was not considered a clever student. One of his examiners went as far as to say
The majority of them were practiced on pea plants. Pea plants are self-pollinating plants. Self-pollinization is the process where a plant uses both male and female reproductive cells to reproduce. Mendel’s goal was to self pollinate pea plants of different species. He used seven pairs of seeds for comparison. He cultivated and tested over 28,000 pea plants. Shape of seed, color of seed, tall stemmed and short stemmed and tall plants and short plants were some of the characteristics of the seeds. His study of variation, hereditary and evolution in France allowed him to eventually become one of the most recognized scientists of all