Gregor Mendel
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/* Rediscovery of Mendel's work */
{{redirect|Mendel}}
{{Infobox_Scientist
| name = Gregor Johann Mendel
| image = mendel.png
| image_width = 150px
| birth_date = {{birth date|1822|7|20}}
| birth_place = [[Hynčice (Vražné)|Hynčice]], [[Austrian Empire]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1884|1|6|1822|7|20}}
| death_place = [[Brno]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
| field = [[Genetics]]
| work_institutions = [[Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno]]
| alma_mater = [[University of Vienna]]
| doctoral_advisor = <!--Please insert-->
| doctoral_students = <!--Please insert-->
| known_for = Discovering [[genetics]]
| prizes = <!--Please insert-->
| religion = [[Roman Catholic]]
}}
<!-- Please DO NOT change this date. July 20 is correct; see talk page. -->
'''Gregor Johann Mendel''' ([[July 20]], [[1822]]<ref>[[July 20]] is his birthday; often mentioned is [[July 22]], the date of his baptism. [http://www.mendel-museum.org/eng/1online/room1.htm Biography of Mendel at the Mendel Museum]</ref> – [[January 6]], [[1884]]) was a [[German language|German speaking]] [[Austria]]n [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[priest]] and [[scientist]], and is often called the father of [[genetics]] for his study of the [[biological inheritance|inheritance]] of [[Trait (biological)|trait]]s in [[pea]] plants. Mendel showed that the inheritance of traits follows particular [[Mendelian inheritance|laws]], which were later named after him. The significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century. Its rediscovery prompted the foundation of the discipline of genetics.
==Biography==
Mendel was born into a [[German language|German]]-speaking family in Heinzendorf, [[Austrian Silesia]], [[Austrian Empire]] (now [[Hynčice (Vražné)|Hynčice]], [[Czech Republic]]), and was baptized two days later. He was the son of Anton and Rosine Mendel, and had one older sister and one younger. During his childhood, Mendel worked as a gardener, studied [[beekeeping]], and as a young man attended the [[Philosophical Institute]] in [[Olomouc]] in 1840–1843. Upon recommendation of his [[physics]] teacher Friedrich Franz, he entered the [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno]] in 1843. Born Johann Mendel, he took the name Gregor upon entering [[monastic]] life. In 1851 he was sent to the [[University of Vienna]] to study, returning to his abbey in 1853 as a teacher, principally of physics.
Gregor Mendel, who is known as the "father of modern genetics", was inspired by both his professors at university and his colleagues at the monastery to study variation in plants, and he conducted his study in the monastery's garden. Between 1856 and 1863 Mendel cultivated and tested some 29,000 [[pea]] plants (i.e. ''[[Pisum sativum]]''). This study showed that one in four pea plants had [[purebred]] [[recessive]] [[alleles]], two out of four were [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] and one out of four were purebred [[dominant]]. His experiments brought forth two generalizations which later became known as Mendel's Laws of Inheritance.
[[Image:Gregor-Johann-Mendel-memorial-plaque.jpg|right|thumb|Gregor Johann Mendel - memorial plaque in Olomouc]]
Mendel read his paper, "[[Experiments on Plant Hybridization]]", at two meetings of the [[Natural History Society of Brünn]] in [[Moravia]] in 1865. When Mendel's paper was published in 1866 in ''[[Proceedings of the Natural History Society of Brünn]]'',<ref>Mendel, J.G. (1866). ''Versuche über Plflanzenhybriden'' Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, Bd. IV für das Jahr, 1865 '''Abhandlungen''':3-47. For the English translation, see: {{cite journal | author=Druery, C.T and William Bateson |title=''Experiments in plant hybridization|journal=Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society|volume=26|pages=1–32|date=1901|url=http://www.esp.org/foundations/genetics/classical/gm-65.pdf}} </ref> it had little impact and was cited about three times over the next thirty-five years. His paper was criticized at the time, but is now considered a seminal work.
After Mendel completed his work with peas, he turned to experimenting with honeybees, in order to extend his work to animals. He produced a hybrid strain (so vicious they were destroyed), but failed to generate a clear picture of their heredity because of the difficulties in controlling mating behaviours of queen bees. He also described novel plant [[species]], and these are denoted with the [[List of botanists by author abbreviation|botanical author abbreviation]] "Mendel".
Elevated as [[abbot]] in 1868, his scientific work largely ended as Mendel became consumed with his increased administrative responsibilities, especially a dispute with the civil government over their attempt to impose special taxes on religious institutions.<ref>{{cite web
| last =Windle
| first =B.C.A.
| authorlink =
| coauthors =Translated Looby, John
| title =Mendel, Mendelism
| work =Catholic Encyclopedia
| publisher =
| date =1911
| url =http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10180b.htm
| format =
| doi =
| accessdate = 2007-04-02 }}</ref>
At first Mendel's work was rejected, and it was not widely accepted until after he died. The common belief at the time was that [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s theory of [[pangene]]s were responsible for inheritance. The [[modern synthesis]] uses Mendelian genetics.
Mendel died on [[January 6]], [[1884]], at age 61, in Brünn, [[Austria-Hungary]] (now [[Brno]], [[Czech Republic]]), from chronic [[nephritis]]. Czech composer [[Leoš Janáček]] played the organ at his funeral. After his death, the following abbot burned all papers in Mendel's collection.
==Rediscovery of Mendel's work==
[[Image:Gregor Johann Mendel bust.jpg|right|thumb|Bust of Mendel at [[Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno]], [[Czech Republic]].]]
[[Image:Mendelian inheritance 3 1.png|left|thumb|Dominant and recessive phenotypes. (1) Parental generation. (2) F1 generation. (3) F2 generation.]]
It was not until the early 20th century that the importance of his ideas was realized. In 1900, his work was rediscovered by [[Hugo de Vries]] and [[Carl Correns]]. Though [[Erich von Tschermak]] was originally also credited with rediscovery, this is no longer accepted because he did not understand Mendel's laws.{{Fact|date=June 2007}} Mendel's results were quickly replicated, and genetic linkage quickly worked out. Biologists flocked to the theory, even though it was not yet applicable to many phenomena. It sought to give a [[genotype]] understanding of heredity which they felt was lacking in previous studies of heredity which focused on [[phenotype|phenotypic]] approaches. Most prominent of these latter approaches was the [[Biostatistics|biometric]] school of [[Karl Pearson]] and [[W.F.R. Weldon]], which was based heavily on statistical studies of phenotype variation. The strongest opposition to this school came from [[William Bateson]], who perhaps did the most in the early days of publicising the benefits of Mendel's theory (the word "[[genetics]]", and much of the discipline's other terminology, originated with Bateson). This debate between the biometricians and the Mendelians was extremely vigorous in the first two decades of the twentieth century, with the biometricians claiming statistical and mathematical rigor, whereas the Mendelians claimed a better understanding of biology. In the end, the two approaches were combined as [[the modern synthesis]] of evolutionary biology, especially by work conducted by [[R. A. Fisher]] as early as 1918.
Mendel's experimental results have later been the object of considerable dispute. Fisher analyzed the results of the F2 (second filial) ratio and found them to be implausibly close to the exact ratio of 3 to 1.<ref>Fisher, R. A. (1936). ''Has Mendel's work been rediscovered?'' Annals of Science '''1''':115-137.</ref> Only a few would accuse Mendel of [[scientific malpractice]] or call it a [[scientific fraud]] — reproduction of his experiments has demonstrated the validity of his hypothesis — however, the results have continued to be a mystery for many, though it is often cited as an example of [[confirmation bias]]. This might arise if he detected an approximate 3 to 1 ratio early in his experiments with a small sample size, and continued collecting more data until the results conformed more nearly to an exact ratio. It is sometimes suggested that he may have censored his results, and that his seven traits each occur on a separate chromosome pair, an extremely unlikely occurrence if they were chosen at random. In fact, the genes Mendel studied occurred in only four linkage groups, and only one gene pair (out of 21 possible) is close enough to show deviation from [[Genetic linkage|independent assortment]]; this is not a pair that Mendel studied.
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==Possible exception to Mendel's laws of inheritance==
In 2002, scientists at [[Purdue University]] discovered in arabidopsis an alternative to previously known mechanisms of [[DNA repair]], which one scientist called a "parallel path of [[Mendelian inheritance|inheritance]]". It was observed in [[mutation]]s of the ''HOTHEAD'' gene. Plants mutant in this gene exhibit organ fusion, and [[pollen]] can [[germinate]] on all plant surfaces, not just the [[Carpel|stigma]]. After spending over a year eliminating simpler explanations, it was indicated that the plants "cached" versions of their ancestors' genetic code going back at least four generations, and used these records as templates to correct the ''HOTHEAD'' mutation and other [[Single nucleotide polymorphism]]s. The initial hypothesis proposed that the record may be [[RNA]]-based<ref>Lolle, S.J., Victor, J.L., Young, J.M., and Pruitt, R.E. (2005). "Genome-wide non-mendelian inheritance of extra-genomic information in Arabidopsis." ''Nature'' 434, 505–509. . [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58349-2005Mar22_2.html]</ref> Since then, alternative models have been proposed which would explain the [[phenotype]] without requiring a new model of inheritance<ref>Chaudhury, A. (2005) "Hothead healer and extragenomic information." ''Nature'' 437, E1–E2.</ref><ref>Comai, L. and Cartwright, R.A. (2005). "A Toxic Mutator and Selection Alternative to the Non-Mendelian RNA Cache Hypothesis for hothead Reversion." ''The Plant Cell'', 17 2856-2858. [http://www.dererumnatura.us/archives/2005/11/blog_about_hoth.html]</ref> More recently the whole phenomenon is being challenged as being a simple artifact of pollen contamination.<ref>Peng P., et al. (2006) ''advance online publication'' '''Nature''' doi:10.1038/nature05251</ref> "''When Jacobsen took great pains to isolate the plants, he couldn't reproduce the [reversion] phenomenon,''" notes [[Steven Henikoff]].<ref>Elizabeth Pennisi (2006) News of the Week GENETICS: ''Pollen Contamination May Explain Controversial Inheritance'' '''Science''' 313; 1864 DOI 10.1126/science.313.5795.1864</ref> In response to the new finding, Lolle and Pruitt agree that Peng ''et al''.'s did observe cross-pollination but note that some of their own data, such as double reversions of both mutant genes to the regular form, cannot be explained by cross pollination.<ref>Lolle S. J., et al. ''advance online publication'' '''Nature''' DOI 10.1038/nature05252</ref>-->
==See also==
[[Image:StThomasAbbeyBrno.jpg|right|thumb|The Augustinian Abbey of St Thomas, Brno.]]
* [[List of Austrian scientists]]
* [[Mendelian inheritance]]
* [[Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno]] (named after Mendel since 1994)
* [[Mendel Polar Station]] in [[Antarctica]]
* [[Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno]]
* [[Mendel Museum of Genetics]]
* [[Mendelian error]]
==References==
<references />
==Bibliography==
* [[Cheryl Bardoe]] ''Gregor Mendel: The Friar who grew peas.'', HN Abrams, 2006.
* [[William Bateson]] ''Mendel's Principles of Heredity, a Defense'', First Edition, London: Cambridge University Press, 1902. [http://www.esp.org/books/bateson/mendel/facsimile/title3.html On-line Facsimile Edition: Electronic Scholarly Publishing, Prepared by Robert Robbins]
* Robin Marantz Henig, ''Monk in the Garden: The Lost and Found Genius of Gregor Mendel, the Father of Genetics'', Houghton Mifflin, May, 2000, hardcover, 292 pages, ISBN 0-395-97765-7; trade paperback, Houghton Mifflin, May, 2001, ISBN 0-618-12741-0
* Robert Lock, ''Recent Progress in the Study of Variation, Heredity and Evolution'', London, 1906
* Vítězslav Orel, ''Gregor Mendel: the first geneticist'', Oxford University Press. 1996, ISBN 0198547749
* [[Reginald Punnett]], ''Mendelism'', Cambridge, 1905
* [[Curt Stern]] and Sherwood ER (1966) ''The Origin of Genetics''.
* [[Colin Tudge]] ''In Mendel's footnotes'' ISBN 0-09-928875-3 book about Gregor Mendel
* [[Bartel Leendert van der Waerden]] ''Mendel's experiments'' Centaurus 12, 275-288 (1968) refutes allegations about "data smoothing"
* James Walsh, ''Catholic Churchmen in Science'', Philadelphia: Dolphin Press, 1906
* [[Ronald A. Fisher]], "Has Mendel's Work Been Rediscovered?" ''Annals of Science'', Volume 1, (1936): 115-137. Discusses the possibility of fraud in his research.
==External links==
{{commons|Gregor Mendel}}
*[http://www.mendelweb.org/Mendel.html Mendel's Paper in English]
*[http://www.mendel-museum.org/index.htm Mendel Museum of Genetics]
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10180b.htm 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia entry, "Mendel, Mendelism"]
*[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=OMIM Online Mendelian Inheritence in Man]
*[http://www.opatbrno.cz/ Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas at Brno]
*[http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Travel/Berlin/for_web/Mendel_in_Brno.html A photographic tour of St. Thomas' Abbey, Brno, Czech Republic]
*[http://www.weloennig.de/mendel.htm Johann Gregor Mendel: Why his discoveries were ignored for 35 (72) years] {{de icon}}
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_aqa/celldivision/inheritance3.shtml This has the basics of Mendel and is more appropriate in style for a GCSE student]
*{{cite web |url=http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BC/Gregor_Mendel.html |title=Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) |accessdate=2008-01-22 |format= |work=}}
*{{cite web |url=http://mendel.imp.ac.at/mendeljsp/biography/biography.jsp |title=Biography of Gregor Mendel |accessdate=2008-01-22 |format= |work=}}
*{{cite web |url=http://www.fieldmuseum.org/mendel/ |title=Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics |accessdate=2008-01-22 |format= |work=}}
<!-- source Catholic Encyclopedia, 1918, www.newadvent.org -->
<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]] -->
{{lifetime|1822|1884|Mendel, Gregor}}
{{Persondata
|NAME= Mendel, Gregor Johann
|ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
|SHORT DESCRIPTION= [[Genetics]]
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|PLACE OF BIRTH= [[Heinzendorf]], [[Silesia]]
|DATE OF DEATH= {{death date|1884|1|6|mf=y}}
|PLACE OF DEATH= [[Brno]], [[Moravia]]
}}
[[Category:People from Austrian Silesia]]
[[Category:People from Brno]]
[[Category:Augustinian friars]]
[[Category:Austrian biologists]]
[[Category:Austrian botanists]]
[[Category:Botanists with author abbreviations]]
[[Category:Geneticists]]
[[Category:Silesian Germans]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic scientist-clerics]]
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