Gregor Mendel studied inheritance using which organism?

Gregor Mendel studied inheritance using which organism?

• A. Fruit flies
• B. Pea plants
• C. Mice
• D. Corn

Answer: (B)

Mendel chose the pea plant because it offers many practical advantages for studying how traits pass from parents to offspring. Peas have several distinct, easily observable traits (like seed shape and flower color), which makes it straightforward to track how those traits appear in successive generations. They also have true-breeding varieties, so crossing two plants with known traits produces predictable results, and self-pollination can produce consistent offspring. With short generation times and the ability to perform controlled crosses by hand-pollination, Mendel could carefully count offspring and uncover clear patterns in how traits segregate and combine across generations. These conditions let him deduce the basic principles of inheritance, such as how traits disappear in one generation and reappear in the next, shaping the fundamental laws of genetics. Other organisms, like fruit flies or mice, were used by later scientists to study different genetic questions, and corn was explored by others as well, but the classic discoveries about inheritance are tied to pea plants.

Mendel chose the pea plant because it offers many practical advantages for studying how traits pass from parents to offspring. Peas have several distinct, easily observable traits (like seed shape and flower color), which makes it straightforward to track how those traits appear in successive generations. They also have true-breeding varieties, so crossing two plants with known traits produces predictable results, and self-pollination can produce consistent offspring. With short generation times and the ability to perform controlled crosses by hand-pollination, Mendel could carefully count offspring and uncover clear patterns in how traits segregate and combine across generations. These conditions let him deduce the basic principles of inheritance, such as how traits disappear in one generation and reappear in the next, shaping the fundamental laws of genetics. Other organisms, like fruit flies or mice, were used by later scientists to study different genetic questions, and corn was explored by others as well, but the classic discoveries about inheritance are tied to pea plants.