What is Gregor Mendel known to be the father of?

Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics. His careful breeding experiments with pea plants revealed predictable patterns of heredity and laid the foundation for modern genetics.

Between 1856 and 1863, Mendel cultivated and studied thousands of pea plants in the garden of St. Thomas’s Abbey in Brno. He tracked seven traits, including seed color, seed shape, flower color, and plant height. His results showed that inherited characteristics are passed as discrete units, now called genes, rather than simply blending together.

Mendel presented his findings in 1865 and published them in 1866, but scientists initially paid little attention. His work was rediscovered around 1900 by researchers including Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, and Erich von Tschermak. William Bateson later popularized Mendel’s ideas and coined the term “genetics” in 1905. Mendelian inheritance remains important, although many traits involve more complex patterns.