Mendelian inheritance is a type of biological inheritance that follows the laws proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1866 and 1868. It describes the inheritance of traits from parents to offspring and is based on the genetic transmission of one or two alleles from each parent to their offspring. Mendelian inheritance is an important aspect of genetics and is the basis for many of the discoveries made in the field.
Mendel’s laws describe the inheritance of traits in terms of dominant and recessive alleles. Dominant alleles are those that are expressed in the phenotype of an organism, while recessive alleles are those that are not expressed in the phenotype. Mendel observed that some traits were always expressed in the offspring, while others were not. He concluded that these traits were determined by the transmission of two alleles from the parents, one dominant and one recessive, and that the expression of a trait depended on which alleles were transmitted.
Mendelian inheritance is observed in a variety of organisms, including plants, animals, humans, and even bacteria. Many of the traits that we observe in organisms are determined by Mendelian inheritance, including eye color, hair color, and skin color in humans and flower color and seed shape in plants. Mendelian inheritance is also used to explain the inheritance of genetic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease.
In addition to its importance in genetics, Mendelian inheritance is also used in the field of evolutionary biology. It provides a way to understand how traits are passed down from one generation to the next and how they can change over time. Mendel’s laws provide the foundation for understanding the evolution of species and the development of new traits.
Mendelian inheritance is an important part of genetics and evolutionary biology. It provides a way to understand the transmission of traits from one generation to the next and how they can change over time. It is the basis for many of the discoveries made in the fields of genetics and evolutionary biology.
References
Griffiths, A. J. F., Wessler, S. R., Carroll, S. B., & Doebley, J. (2016). Introduction to genetic analysis (10th ed.). New York: W.H. Freeman.
Mendel, G. (1866). Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden. Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereines in Brünn, 4, 3–47.
Moran, C. J., & Kondrashov, F. A. (2011). Selection and genetics of quantitative traits. Nature Reviews Genetics, 12(6), 392–404. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrg3006