Gregor J. Mendel - genetics founding father

Abstract

Schwarzbach E., Smýkal P., Dostál O., Jarkovská M., Valová S. (2014): Gregor J. Mendel -genetics founding father. Czech. J. Genet. Plant Breed., 50: 43-51.Mendel's impact on science is overwhelming. Although based on the number of scientific papers he published he might be considered a meteorologist, his most significant contribution is his study of plant hybrids. This single work puts Mendel on a par with Darwin's evolutionary theory and establishes him firmly in the frame of today's biology. The aim of this article is to introduce the personality of Gregor Johann Mendel, focussing not just on his scientific work, but also on his background and what or who influenced him. To understand Mendel's use of quantification and mathematical analysis of obtained results, representing a radical departure from methods of his predecessors, it is important to know something about their arguments, beliefs, and practices. He designed his experiments to answer a long standing question of hybridization, not inheritance as we perceive it today, since the science of genetics was born considerably later. He studied many genera of plants, but his famous research was on garden peas. To choose a single species for his crosses was fundamental to his success, but also fuelled most of criticism at the time he presented his results. The reason for his success was partly due to being a hybrid himself: of a biological scientist, a physical scientist and a mathematician. Mendel's other fields of interest such as meteorology and bee keeping are also introduced in this article.

Legume Crops Phylogeny and Genetic Diversity for Science and Breeding

“…Moreover, the pea variety Cameor was used to develop the TILLING mutant population (Dalmais et al, 2008) and to construct a BAC library, both essential tools for positional cloning and pea genome sequencing (reviewed in Smýkal et al, 2012;Smýkal and Konečná, 2014). Increased knowledge of the pea genome has not only a scientific but also a great educational and social impact, owing to seminal work of J. G. Mendel (1865-66) (Schwarzbach et al, 2014).…”

Genetika v učebnicích biologie a přírodopisu: historie a současnost

“…V roce 1866 vyšly výsledky Mendelovy dlouholeté práce s křížením hrachu setého v díle Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden (Mendel, 1866). Cílem bylo najít pravidla, podle kterých vznikají hybridi během pohlavního rozmnožování, explicitně o dědičnosti se však ve své práci Mendel nijak nezmiňoval (Moore, 2001;Schwarzbach et al, 2014). Popisoval pouze hypotézy přenosu znaků mezi generacemi na základě provedených experimentů a ty nebyly označeny pozdějším termínem "zákony (Fairbanks & Rytting, 2001;Monaghan & Corcos, 1984).…”

“…Mendelova práce nezapadla do kontextu doby, dostala se však do evropských knihoven a byla citována v mnoha dílech, ale nebyl plně doceněn její význam (Moore, 2001;Schwarzbach et al, 2014). Mezi dalšími podobnými díly vynikala svou metodikou: vhodný výběr rostliny i sledovaných znaků, četná opakování experimentů s přítomností kontroly a hlavně důkladné matematické zhodnocení nasbíraných dat, což byl v té době nezvyklý až revoluční přístup (Dastur & Tank, 2010;Schwarzbach et al, 2014). V roce 1900 přišlo znovuobjevení Mendelova díla nezávisle na sobě třemi botaniky: Nizozemcem Hugo de Vriesem, Němcem Carl Corrensem a Rakušanem Erich von Tschermakem (Gayon, 2016).…”

A Biographical Study in the History of Heredity: Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884)

“…Charles Darwin'in evrim kuramı ile birlikte Mendel'in kalıtım kuramı, bugünkü biyolojinin kuramsal temelini oluşturmuştur. 29 Mendel'in hayatı ile ilgili bazı belgeler Mendel'in ölümünden sonra kendisinin yerine gelen başrahip tarafından yakıldığından, ona ilişkin kişisel bilgiler sınırlıdır. Bununla birlikte, çalışmalarının öneminin anlaşılması üzerine Mendel [30][31][32] Baba Anton Mendel, Avusturya Ordusu'nda Napolyon Savaşları'na katılmış, 1818 yılında kendisi gibi çiftçi bir aileden gelen Rosine Schwirtlich ile evlenmiştir.…”