MENDEL LAW OF INHERITANCE

The branch of biological science which deals with the study of heredity and variations is known as genetics . The term genetics was first coined by William Bateson in 1906 . According to him, " genetics is the elucidation of the phenomenon of heredity and variations ."

    The scientific study in genetics was started with the time of Gregor johann Mendel (1822-1884), an Austrian monk . He formulated the basic laws of genetics with the help of his experiment on common garden pea . He is considered as the pioneer in the field of genetics and appropriately called FATHER OF GENETICS . His conclusion constitutes the foundation of MODERN GENETICS .

MENDEL'S EXPERIMENTS

Selection of Materials: Mendel selected garden pea plant as a best material for his hybridization experiments , because :

1. Its life cycle is comparatively short.
2. Construction of flower is suitable for self pollination.
3. In this case self pollination can easily prevented by removing the stamens from the flower buds .
4. Its many distinct varieties were available between which crosses could be made and analyzed .

Mendel studied seven characteristics of pea plants, each of which occurred in two contrasting traits such as :
a. Seed texture - round and wrinkled
b. Seed color - yellow and green
c. Seed coat color - grey and white
d. Pod appearance- inflated and constricted
e. Pod color - green and yellow
f. Position of flowers - axial and terminal
g.Stem length -tall and dwarf

Reasons For Mendel Success

1. Mendel at first prepared genetically pure variety for a single character to get the exact results in the breeding .
2. He studied the inheritance of one character at a time .
3. Great care was taken in carrying out all experiments,eliminating the chances of cross polls nation wherever required.
4. Sufficient data were collected and analyzed carefully .
5. He carried out experiments to F2 and F3 generation only .