8/6/2019 Scientist Paper - Gregor Mendel

1/2

Heidi Snell 8X

Gregor MendelGregor Mendel was a fantastic scientist who was born on July 22, 1822 in

Heizendorf, Australia. He was a famous biologist who was born into the life of a poor

farmer. He did not have any interest in becoming a farmer when he was young. But, it

was difficult for him to get an education since they were a poor family. Mendel ended up

going to to the Olomuc University. However, he had to leave because of his financial

situation. Then he went to monastery to escape from his financial worries. For a long

time, he was a substitute teacher for a science class. He would have been the normal

teacher but he did not have the right papers or degrees. When he tried to get one, he

failed the test miserably. Later in his life, he began to start his famous experimenting.

N the years 1856 to 1863, he grew over 28,000 pea plants in the monastery. He

would study the offspring of these plants by looking at things like the characteristics of the

seeds and the appearance of the new plants. This led to his discovery of heredity units

we now know as genes. In the year of 1866, he published his findings in his Journal of

the Brno Natural History Society. His book had absolutely no impact at all. Nobody even

knew who he was. The people that did read it either did not understand it, or thought that

he had gone crazy.

Later in his life he made a new species of bees using his new knowledge about

heredity. This new species of bees produced the most excellent honey. The only problem

was that they were very aggressive. They would sting anything that came near them.

They were so aggressive, that they actually had to be totally killed off. There are no

8/6/2019 Scientist Paper - Gregor Mendel

2/2

remaining bees of that species living today. A third thing that he did in his lifetime was

that he experimented the the plant called Hieracium. Hieracium is also commonly known

as Hawkweed. These experiments did not produce very clear results though. That left

these experiment inconclusive.

Gregor Mendel was totally finished with his experimenting by the 1870's. Then he

passed away in 1884 at the age of 62. Mendel contributed to science today in a big way.

We now know that some diseases such as heart problems can be inherited from previous

generations. We can also make a species with desired characteristics. We use this to

make animals such as donkeys for some of there special features. We can do the same

thing to make a type of plant that we want as well.

If Gregor Mendel was still alive today I would have a lot of questions for him. I

would want to know if he had any influences that made him want to test heredity. I would

also ask him how he was able to keep track of over 28,000 plants at the same time. I

would also ask him if he was disappointed that his work was never appreciated during his

lifetime.

Bibliography:

~Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884). 4-29-11. 5-4-11. http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/gregormendel.html

~Gregor Mendel. By Michon Scott. 6-1-10. 5-4-11. http://www.strangescience.net/mendel.htm

http://www.zephyrus.co.uk/gregormendel.htmlhttp://www.strangescience.net/mendel.htmhttp://www.strangescience.net/mendel.htmhttp://www.strangescience.net/mendel.htmhttp://www.zephyrus.co.uk/gregormendel.html