This summer, we celebrate the 200th birthday of Gregor Mendel, known as the father of modern genetics. Mendel was an Augustinian monk in what is now the Czech Republic whose pioneering experiments uncovered the basic principles of inheritance. Between 1857 and 1864, Mendel meticulously crossbred thousands of pea plants with various traits (such as height, pea shape, and pod shape) and systematically recorded how those traits were passed from one generation to the next.

Although his scientific achievements went unrecognized during his lifetime, Mendel’s work anticipated the field of genetics, long before the discovery of DNA and genes. Our modern understanding of how traits may be inherited through generations comes from the principles of inheritance proposed by Mendel.

Read my new factsheet for the American Society of Human Genetics: Gregor Mendel and the Principles of Genetic Inheritance.