MENDELIAN GENETICS Mendelian genetics is a way of understanding inheritance according to laws of genetics outlined by Gregor Mendel. They serve as the main model for how genes get transferred from parents to offspring in both plants and animals. As mentioned, Mendel studied pea plants and hybridized them as part of his studies on inheritance. His work determined that inheritance is discontinuous rather than blended or continuous. Mendelian genetics is also referred to as classical genetics. Out of his studies came Mendel s laws. He bred purebred purple and white pea plants to make what was called the F1 generation. Because these were purebred, they carried two copies of the same gene for flower color. The end result was that all flowers in the F1 generation were purple. He determined that purple color was a dominant trait. Figure 5 shows a Punnett square:
Figure 5.
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