Pea Plant Experiments

Gregor Mendel, often called the father of genetics, conducted experiments with pea plants in the mid-1800s. He cross-pollinated different varieties of peas to observe how traits like color and shape were inherited. By carefully tracking the results over generations, Mendel discovered the fundamental laws of heredity, including the concepts of dominant and recessive traits. His work laid the groundwork for modern genetics, demonstrating that traits are passed from parents to offspring in predictable patterns, which helped explain biological inheritance in all living organisms.