Biology (A)

Introduction

People have long known that the characteristics of living things are similar in parents and their offspring. Whether it’s flower color in pea plants or nose shape in people, it is obvious that offspring resemble their parents. However, it wasn’t until the experiments of Gregor Mendel that scientists understood how characteristics are inherited. Mendel’s discoveries formed the basis of genetics, the science of heredity. That’s why Mendel is often called the “father of genetics.” It’s not common for a single researcher to have such an important impact on science. The importance of Mendel’s work was due to three things: a curious mind, sound scientific methods, and good luck. You’ll see why when you read about Mendel’s experiments.

An introduction to heredity can be seen in this video:

CK-12 Foundation, Biology. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/