Genetics, the study of heredity and the mechanisms that control it, is an outgrowth of the studies of Gregor Mendel. In the 1860's, he performed experiments with garden peas which resulted in a new way of explaining how traits are passed from generation to generation. Mendel's ideas were revived in 1900 as other European investigators confirmed his basic tenets. Heredity is due to discrete hereditary particles which soon came to be called genes, which are located on located on paired chromosomes. The application of the principles of genetics, begun in the first few decades of the twentieth century, has resulted in the development of greatly improved varieties of crop plants.
See also: Physiology, Cytology, Anatomy
|
