Download Gregor Mendel Power Point File

Who was this Mendel and what the heck is
he doing in a monastery?
• born in 1822
• trained himself to be a
naturalist early in life
• worked as a substitute
science teacher
• failed the qualifying exams to be
a regular high school teacher!
• joined a monastery in Brunn,
Austria
• sent to Vienna U. to study
science and math
MendelWeb
Mendel’s first published work:
"Versuche über Pflanzen-Hybriden“
or Experiments in Plant Hybridization
was a landmark in clarity and insight!
Trained as a mathematician
and a biologist, he figured
out the laws of inheritance…
mathematically!!
The work of Gregor Mendel
• worked with pea plants…
…he called
them his
children!
Why pea plants???
There was a long-standing tradition of breeding pea
plants at the monastery where Mendel lived and worked
So…they were readily available grew fast and they
come in lots of varieties!
…there were plants with different flower colors, seed
color, flower position etc..
What is Genetics?
 Genetics is the study of heredity, a
study of how certain characteristics
are passed on from parents to
children.
What are Genes?
 Genes A GENE is a segment of a
chromosome that produces a
particular trait.
 For example, in humans, there’s a
gene on the chromosome that holds
the code for hair color.
What is a Trait?
 A trait is a specific characteristic that varies
from one individual to another.
 Examples:
Brown hair, blue eyes, tall, curly
What is an Allele?
 Alleles are the different possibilities for a given trait.
 Every trait has at least two alleles (one from the mother and one
from the father)
 Dominant and Recessive ALLELES: an allele can be
DOMINANT or RECESSIVE.
 A DOMINANT allele – takes over. Written with a
CAPITAL letter. Example :T
 A RECESSIVE allele – hidden by the dominant.
Written with a lowercase letter. Example t
Dominant & Recessive Practice
T – straight hair
t - curly hair
 TT - Represent offspring with straight hair
 Tt - Represent offspring with straight hair
 tt - Represents offspring with curly hair
Homozygous vs. Heterozygous
 Homozygous / Purebred–
Term used to refer to an
organism that has two identical
alleles for a particular trait (TT
or tt)
 Heterozygous / Hybrid -
Term used to refer to an
organism that has two different
alleles for the same trait (Tt)
RR
rr
Rr
Genotype vs. Phenotype
 Genotype – The genetic makeup of an
organism; The gene (or allele) combination an
organism has.

Example: Tt, ss, GG, Ww
 Phenotype – The physical characteristics of an
organism; The way an
organism looks

Example: Curly hair,
straight hair, blue eyes,
tall, green
SO, NOW IT’S YOUR TURN TO WORK ALONE
Click on the site below
http://www.mendel-museum.com/eng/1online/experiment.htm