Figure 1. Experimenting with thousands of garden peas, Mendel uncovered the fundamentals of genetics. (credit: modification of work by Jerry Kirkhart)

Genetics is the study of heredity. Johann Gregor Mendel, known as the Father of Genetics, set the framework for genetics long before identification of genes and when meiosis was not understood.  Mendel selected a simple biological system and conducted methodical, quantitative analyses using large sample sizes. Because of Mendel’s work, the fundamental principles of heredity were revealed. We now know that genes, carried on chromosomes, are the basic functional units of heredity with the capability to be replicated, expressed, or mutated. Today, the ideas put forth by Mendel form the basis of classical, or Mendelian, genetics.  Mendel’s experiments serve as an excellent starting point for thinking about inheritance.