From Mater et Magistra:
When we think of genetics today, we often trace its origins to Gregor Mendel, the 19th-century Augustinian friar whose meticulous work with pea plants laid the foundation for modern biology. Yet, during his lifetime, Mendel’s discoveries remained largely unnoticed, and it would take nearly a century before scientists recognized the significance of his work. More than just a biologist, Mendel was a mathematician, a man of faith, and a thinker deeply aware of the scientific currents of his time—including the work of Charles Darwin.
Mendel’s Life: A Priest and a Scientist
Born in 1822 in what is now the Czech Republic, Mendel joined the Augustinian monastery in Brno, where he had access to an education that combined theological training with scientific study. The monastery was a center of learning, fostering an environment where faith and reason were not seen as opposing forces but as complementary ways of understanding the world.
Mendel’s scientific work was driven by careful observation and mathematical precision—qualities that set him apart in an era when biology was largely descriptive rather than quantitative. While many of his contemporaries were captivated by geology and the idea of gradual change over time, Mendel turned his attention to heredity, asking a simple yet profound question: How are traits passed from one generation to the next?
Pea Plants and the Birth of Genetics
Between 1856 and 1863, Mendel cultivated and studied thousands of pea plants, meticulously tracking the inheritance of traits such as flower color and seed shape. His experiments led him to uncover what we now call the laws of inheritance—the principles of dominant and recessive traits, the segregation of genes, and independent assortment. These discoveries formed the very basis of modern genetics, yet they were largely ignored by the scientific community of his time. (Read more.)
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