One of the most important concepts in genetics is the concept of a “gene.” What is a gene, and why are genes important? Likewise, why is the term “gene” difficult to precisely define? Let’s have a look about the history of our understanding of genetic inheritance to learn why.
Charles Darwin, 1869, Wikimedia Commons
Augustinian Monastery and Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, Brno, Czech Republic., Wikimedia Commons.
Over 200 years ago, Gregor Mendel was among the first scientists to get a hunch about how genetic “information” is passed down from one generation to the next. After breeding different types of pea plants to one another (short vs. tall, yellow vs. green) in his monastery’s vast 4.8 acre garden, the Austrian monk noticed that physical characteristics of these plants could be passed down, or inherited, in mathematically predictable patterns [5, 10].
