WEB Heredity: Genetics and the Passage of Traits
Understanding the Basics of Heredity
Heredity, also known as inheritance, is the remarkable process by which parents transmit their genetic material to their offspring. This intricate process ensures the continuity of life and the passing down of unique characteristics and traits across generations.
Gregor Mendel's Pioneering Discoveries
The study of heredity gained significant momentum thanks to the meticulous experiments conducted by Gregor Mendel in the mid-1800s. Mendel's groundbreaking work with pea plants revealed the fundamental principles of heredity, which later became known as Mendel's laws of inheritance.
Patterns of Inheritance in Pea Plants
Mendel's experiments revealed that individual genes come in pairs and that these pairs separate during the formation of gametes (egg and sperm cells). When gametes fuse during fertilization, the resulting offspring inherit one gene from each parent, creating a unique combination of alleles.
Dominance and Recessiveness
In Mendel's pea plant experiments, he observed that certain traits, such as seed color or plant height, were dominant over others. Dominant genes are expressed in offspring even when present in only one copy. Recessive genes, on the other hand, are only expressed if inherited from both parents.
Conclusion
Heredity, as elucidated by Gregor Mendel's groundbreaking research, is the intricate and fascinating process through which parents pass down their genetic legacy to their descendants. Mendel's principles of dominance, recessiveness, and the segregation of genes laid the foundation for our understanding of genetics and continue to shape our knowledge of heredity today.
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