Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of GeneticsIn the mid-nineteenth century, Gregor Mendel, a friar who taught natural science in the provincial Austro-Hungarian capital of Brunn (today Brno, Czech Republic), began to experiment with breeding garden peas. Meticulously recording his observations of their inherited traits over a number of generations, he developed the basis of the modern science of genetics. Mendel's discoveries were so far in advance of their day that it wasn't until 50 years had passed that their importance was recognised by the scientific community. Today he is recognised as one of the great scientists of history. The story of genetics, of course, did not stop with Mendel. In a fascinating account of scientific history, author Simon Mawer continues the narrative through the work of the life-scientists who built their own research on Mendel's discoveries. These include the discovery of the DNA molecule by scientists led by James Watson and Francis Crick in the early 1950s, the Human Genome Project completed in 2003, and the remarkable discoveries of geneticists that continue today. |
Common terms and phrases
AaBb Abbey of St Abbot Napp actually amino acids animals Augustinian Avery bacteria bacterium Bateson biologists biology Botany breeding Brno Brünn called Carl von Nägeli century characters chromosome color convent Correns Crick crossed Czech Darwin Diebl discovered discovery dominant Drosophila egg cell enzyme eugenics experimental experiments Father Gregor female fertilization flowers Francis Crick Franz Unger friar Galton garden pea genes geneticists genetics genome German Gregor Mendel hawkweeds Heinzendorf Hugo de Vries human hybrids idea Iltis inheritance Institute Johann Mendel Klácel later lecture letter male Mendel's paper Mendelian molecular molecule Moravia mutation natural Nirenberg nucleic acid offprint offspring organisms Oswald Avery pair pangenesis parent peloric plant-breeding plants pollen pollen cells pollen grains protein ratio Realschule recessive scientific scientists seemed Society species studies theory tion University Vavilov Versuche Vienna Vries Vries's Wilkins William Bateson X chromosome X-ray X-ray crystallography yellow