Page "Genetics" Paragraph 8

Modern genetics started with Gregor Johann Mendel, a German-Czech Augustinian monk and scientist who studied the nature of inheritance in plants.

In his paper " Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden " (" Experiments on Plant Hybridization "), presented in 1865 to the Naturforschender Verein ( Society for Research in Nature ) in Brünn, Mendel traced the inheritance patterns of certain traits in pea plants and described them mathematically.

Although this pattern of inheritance could only be observed for a few traits, Mendel's work suggested that heredity was particulate, not acquired, and that the inheritance patterns of many traits could be explained through simple rules and ratios.