191 years ago, the father of modern genetics Gregor
Johann Mendel was born on July 20th in a small village of Hynčice (now part of
Czech city of Vražné).
 |
| Gregor Johan Mendel - image from BHL. |
Mendel came from a German family and since his early
childhood he was interested in nature and even studied beekeeping. At the age
of 18, Mendel started his studies of philosophy and physics at the University
of Olomouc. Later, he trained as a priest and took over the name Gregor. At
that time, Mendel published several works on meteorology and founded the
Austrian Meteorological Society in 1865. He also spent several years at the
University in Vienna.
 |
| European Honey Bee by Richard Bartz - image is under CC BY-SA of EoL. |
In 1867, Mendel became an abbot of a Augustinian Abbey
of St. Thomas in Brno. There, he started his research and experiments on plant
hybridisation and also bred bees. To conduct the research, Mendel cultivated
and bred thousands of pea plants and experimented also with bees. As a result
of his experiments, Mendel formulated basic principles of inheritance, today
known as Mendel´s Laws of Inheritance. However, the importance of Mendel's
contribution to science was recognized only after his death.
 |
| Pea (Pisum sativum) - image is under CC BY-NC of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. |
Read Mendel´s book from Biodiversity Heritage Library here. Stay tuned!
