SAQ : Describe Mendel’s work on the pea plant

Mendel’s work on the pea plant, also known as Mendelian genetics:

1. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) was an Austrian scientist and Augustinian friar who conducted groundbreaking research on pea plants in the mid-19th century.
2. He chose pea plants for their easily observable traits and ability to self-fertilize or cross-fertilize.
3. Mendel conducted controlled experiments, carefully tracking the inheritance of specific traits over multiple generations.
4. He identified and studied seven distinct traits, such as seed shape, flower colour, and plant height.
5. Mendel formulated two fundamental laws of inheritance: the Law of Segregation (alleles segregate during gamete formation) and the Law of Independent Assortment (traits assort independently during gamete formation).
6. He proposed the concept of dominant and recessive alleles, explaining how certain traits can be hidden in one generation and reappear in later generations.