Life and scientific activity of Mendel briefly. Gregor Mendel - Father of modern genetics. Difficult academic years

MENDEL (Mendel) Gregor Johann (1822-84), Austrian naturalist, monk, founder of the doctrine of heredity (Mendelism). Applying statistical methods to analyze the results of hybridization of pea varieties (1856-63), he formulated the laws of heredity.

MENDEL (Mendel) Gregor Johann (July 22, 1822, Heinzendorf, Austria-Hungary, now Ginchice - January 6, 1884, Brunn, now Brno, Czech Republic), botanist and religious figure, founder of the doctrine of heredity.

Difficult years of teaching

Johann was born as the second child of a peasant family of mixed German-Slavic origin and middle income, to Anton and Rosina Mendel. In 1840, Mendel completed six classes at the gymnasium in Troppau (now the city of Opava) and the following year entered the philosophical classes at the university in Olmütz (now the city of Olomouc). However, the financial situation of the family during these years worsened, and from the age of 16, Mendel himself had to take care of his food. Not being able to constantly endure such stress, Mendel, after graduating from philosophical classes, in October 1843, entered the Brynn Monastery as a novice (where he received the new name Gregor). There he found patronage and financial support for further studies. In 1847 Mendel was ordained a priest. At the same time, from 1845, he studied for 4 years at the Brunn Theological School. Augustine Monastery of St. Thomas was the center of scientific and cultural life in Moravia. In addition to a rich library, he had a collection of minerals, an experimental garden and a herbarium. The monastery patronized school education in the edge.

monk teacher

As a monk, Mendel enjoyed teaching physics and mathematics at a school in the nearby town of Znaim, but did not pass. state exam for teacher certification. Seeing his passion for knowledge and high intellectual abilities, the abbot of the monastery sent him to continue his studies at the University of Vienna, where Mendel studied as a volunteer for four semesters in the period 1851-53, attending seminars and courses in mathematics and the natural sciences, in particular, the course of the famous physics K. Doppler. A good physical and mathematical background helped Mendel later in formulating the laws of inheritance. Returning to Brunn, Mendel continued teaching (he taught physics and natural history at a real school), but the second attempt to pass the certification of a teacher was again unsuccessful.

Experiments on pea hybrids

From 1856, Mendel began to carry out in the monastery garden (7 meters wide and 35 meters long) well-thought-out extensive experiments on crossing plants (primarily among carefully selected varieties of peas) and elucidating the patterns of inheritance of traits in the offspring of hybrids. In 1863 he completed the experiments and in 1865 at two meetings of the Brunn Society of Naturalists he reported the results of his work. In 1866, in the proceedings of the society, his article "Experiments on Plant Hybrids" was published, which laid the foundations of genetics as an independent science. This is a rare case in the history of knowledge when one article marks the birth of a new scientific discipline. Why is it considered so?

Work on plant hybridization and the study of the inheritance of traits in the offspring of hybrids was carried out decades before Mendel in different countries both breeders and botanists. The facts of dominance, splitting and combination of characters were noticed and described, especially in the experiments of the French botanist C. Naudin. Even Darwin, crossing varieties of snapdragons that differ in flower structure, obtained in the second generation a ratio of forms close to the well-known Mendelian splitting of 3: 1, but saw in this only a "capricious play of the forces of heredity." The variety of plant species and forms taken in the experiments increased the number of statements, but reduced their validity. The meaning or "soul of facts" (the expression of Henri Poincaré) remained vague until Mendel.

Quite different consequences followed from the seven-year work of Mendel, which rightfully constitutes the foundation of genetics. Firstly, he created the scientific principles for describing and studying hybrids and their offspring (what forms to take in crossing, how to analyze in the first and second generations). Mendel developed and applied algebraic system symbols and designations of features, which was an important conceptual innovation. Secondly, Mendel formulated two basic principles, or the law of inheritance of traits in a number of generations, allowing predictions to be made. Finally, Mendel implicitly expressed the idea of discreteness and binarity of hereditary inclinations: each trait is controlled by a maternal and paternal pair of inclinations (or genes, as they were later called), which are transmitted to hybrids through parent germ cells and do not disappear anywhere. The inclinations of traits do not affect each other, but diverge during the formation of germ cells and then freely combine in descendants (the laws of splitting and combining traits). The pairing of inclinations, the pairing of chromosomes, the double helix of DNA - this is the logical consequence and the main path for the development of genetics of the 20th century based on the ideas of Mendel.

Great discoveries are often not immediately recognized.

Although the proceedings of the Society, where Mendel's article was published, were received in 120 scientific libraries, and Mendel sent an additional 40 prints, his work had only one favorable response - from K. Negeli, professor of botany from Munich. Negeli himself was engaged in hybridization, introduced the term "modification" and put forward a speculative theory of heredity. However, he doubted that the laws revealed on peas are universal and advised to repeat the experiments on other species. Mendel respectfully agreed with this. But his attempt to replicate the results obtained on peas on the hawk, with which Negeli worked, was unsuccessful. It wasn't until decades later that it became clear why. Seeds in the hawk are formed parthenogenetically, without the participation of sexual reproduction. Other exceptions to Mendel's principles were also observed, which were interpreted much later. This is part of the reason for the cold reception of his work. Since 1900, after the almost simultaneous publication of articles by three botanists - H. De Vries, K. Correns and E. Cermak-Seizenegg, who independently confirmed Mendel's data with their own experiments, there was an instant explosion of recognition of his work. 1900 is considered the birth year of genetics.

A beautiful myth has been created around the paradoxical fate of the discovery and rediscovery of Mendel's laws that his work remained completely unknown and that three rediscoverers came across it only by chance and independently, 35 years later. In fact, Mendel's work was cited about 15 times in the 1881 plant hybrid summary and was known to botanists. Moreover, as it turned out recently when analyzing the workbooks of K. Correns, back in 1896 he read Mendel's article and even made an abstract of it, but at that time he did not understand its deep meaning and forgot.

The style of conducting the experiments and presenting the results in Mendel's classic article makes it very likely that the English came to 1936 mathematical statistician and geneticist R. E. Fisher: Mendel first intuitively penetrated the "soul of facts" and then planned a series of many years of experiments so that the idea that had illuminated him would come out in the best possible way. The beauty and severity of the numerical ratios of forms during splitting (3:1 or 9:3:3:1), the harmony in which it was possible to fit the chaos of facts in the field hereditary variability, the ability to make predictions - all this internally convinced Mendel of the universal nature of the laws he found on peas. It remained to convince the scientific community. But this task is as difficult as the discovery itself. After all, knowing the facts does not mean understanding them. A major discovery is always associated with personal knowledge, feelings of beauty and wholeness based on intuitive and emotional components. It is difficult to convey this non-rational kind of knowledge to other people, because efforts and the same intuition are needed on their part.

The fate of Mendel's discovery - a delay of 35 years between the very fact of the discovery and its recognition in the community - is not a paradox, but rather the norm in science. So, 100 years after Mendel, already in the heyday of genetics, a similar fate of non-recognition for 25 years befell B.'s discovery of mobile genetic elements. And this despite the fact that, unlike Mendel, by the time of her discovery she was a highly respected scientist and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

In 1868, Mendel was elected abbot of the monastery and practically retired from scientific studies. His archive contains notes on meteorology, beekeeping, and linguistics. On the site of the monastery in Brno, the Mendel Museum has now been created; a special journal "Folia Mendeliana" is published.

Mendel was a monk and took great pleasure in teaching mathematics and physics at a nearby school. But he failed to pass the state certification for the post of teacher. I saw his craving for knowledge and very high intelligence abilities. He sent it to the University of Vienna to receive higher education. There Gregor Mendel studied for two years. He attended classes in natural sciences, mathematics. This helped him to further formulate the laws of inheritance.

Difficult academic years

Gregor Mendel was the second child in a family of peasants with German and Slavic roots. In 1840, the boy completed six classes at the gymnasium, and the very next year he entered the philosophical class. But in those years, the financial condition of the family deteriorated, and the 16-year-old Mendel had to take care of his own food on his own. It was very difficult. Therefore, after completing his studies in philosophy classes, he became a novice in a monastery.

By the way, the name given to him at birth is Johann. Already in the monastery they began to call him Gregor. He did not come here in vain, as he received patronage, as well as financial support, which makes it possible to continue his studies. In 1847 he was ordained a priest. During this period he studied at the theological school. There was a rich library here, which positive influence for education.

monk and teacher

Gregor, who did not yet know that he was the future founder of genetics, taught classes at school and, after failing the certification, went to university. After graduation, Mendel returned to the city of Brunn and continued to teach natural history and physics. He again tried to pass the certification for the post of teacher, but the second attempt was also a failure.

Experiments with peas

Why is Mendel considered the founder of genetics? From 1856, in the monastery garden, he began to conduct extensive and carefully thought-out experiments related to the crossing of plants. On the example of peas, he revealed patterns of inheritance of various traits in the offspring of hybrid plants. Seven years later, the experiments were completed. And a couple of years later, in 1865, at meetings of the Brunn Society of Naturalists, he made a report on the work done. A year later, his article about experiments on plant hybrids was published. It was thanks to her that they were laid as an independent scientific discipline. Thanks to this, Mendel is the founder of genetics.

If earlier scientists could not put everything together and form principles, then Gregor succeeded. He created scientific rules for the study and description of hybrids, as well as their descendants. A symbolic system was developed and applied to designate signs. Mendel formulated two principles by which inheritance predictions can be made.

Late recognition

Despite the publication of his article, the work had only one positive feedback. The German scientist Negeli, who also studied hybridization, favorably reacted to the works of Mendel. But he also had doubts about the fact that the laws that were revealed only on peas could be universal. He advised that Mendel, the founder of genetics, repeat the experiments on other plant species. Gregor respectfully agreed with this.

He tried to repeat the experiments on the hawk, but the results were unsuccessful. And only after many years it became clear why this happened. The fact was that in this plant, seeds are formed without sexual reproduction. There were also other exceptions to the principles that the founder of genetics deduced. After the publication of articles by famous botanists, which confirmed the research of Mendel, since 1900, there was recognition of his work. For this reason, it is 1900 that is considered the year of birth of this science.

Everything that Mendel discovered convinced him that the laws he described with the help of peas were universal. It was only necessary to convince other scientists of this. But the task was as difficult as the scientific discovery itself. And all because knowing the facts and understanding them are completely different things. The fate of the discovery of genetics, that is, the 35-year delay between the discovery itself and its public recognition, is not at all a paradox. In science, this is quite normal. A century after Mendel, when genetics was already flourishing, the same fate befell McClintock's discoveries, which were not recognized for 25 years.

Heritage

In 1868, the scientist, the founder of genetics Mendel, became the abbot of the monastery. He almost completely stopped doing science. Notes on linguistics, bee breeding, and meteorology were found in his archives. On the site of this monastery is currently the Gregor Mendel Museum. A special scientific journal is also named in his honor.

Gregor Mendel (Gregor Johann Mendel) (1822-84) - Austrian naturalist, botanist and religious figure, monk, founder of the doctrine of heredity (Mendelism). Applying statistical methods to analyze the results of hybridization of pea varieties (1856-63), he formulated the laws of heredity (see Mendel's laws).

Gregor Mendel was born July 22, 1822, Heinzendorf, Austria-Hungary, now Ginchice Died January 6, 1884, Brunn, now Brno, Czech Republic.

Difficult years of teaching

In 1847 Mendel was ordained a priest. At the same time, from 1845, he studied for 4 years at the Brunn Theological School. Augustine Monastery of St. Thomas was the center of scientific and cultural life in Moravia. In addition to a rich library, he had a collection of minerals, an experimental garden and a herbarium. The monastery patronized school education in the region.

monk teacher

As a monk, Gregor Mendel enjoyed teaching physics and mathematics at a school in the nearby town of Znaim, but did not pass the state teacher certification exam. Seeing his passion for knowledge and high intellectual abilities, the abbot of the monastery sent him to continue his studies at the University of Vienna, where Mendel studied as a volunteer for four semesters in the period 1851-53, attending seminars and courses in mathematics and the natural sciences, in particular, the course of the famous physics K. Doppler. A good physical and mathematical background helped Mendel later in formulating the laws of inheritance. Returning to Brunn, Mendel continued teaching (he taught physics and natural history at a real school), but the second attempt to pass the certification of a teacher was again unsuccessful.

Experiments on pea hybrids

From 1856, Gregor Mendel began to carry out in the monastery garden (7 meters wide and 35 meters long) well-thought-out extensive experiments on crossing plants (primarily among carefully selected pea varieties) and elucidating the patterns of inheritance of traits in the offspring of hybrids. In 1863 he completed the experiments and in 1865 at two meetings of the Brunn Society of Naturalists he reported the results of his work. In 1866, in the proceedings of the society, his article "Experiments on Plant Hybrids" was published, which laid the foundations of genetics as an independent science. This is a rare case in the history of knowledge when one article marks the birth of a new scientific discipline. Why is it considered so?

Work on plant hybridization and the study of the inheritance of traits in the offspring of hybrids was carried out decades before Mendel in different countries by both breeders and botanists. The facts of dominance, splitting and combination of characters were noticed and described, especially in the experiments of the French botanist C. Naudin. Even Darwin, crossing varieties of snapdragons that differ in flower structure, obtained in the second generation a ratio of forms close to the well-known Mendelian splitting of 3: 1, but saw in this only a "capricious play of the forces of heredity." The variety of plant species and forms taken in the experiments increased the number of statements, but reduced their validity. The meaning or "soul of facts" (Henri Poincare's expression) remained vague until Mendel.

Secondly, Gregor Mendel formulated two basic principles, or laws of inheritance of traits in a number of generations, allowing predictions to be made. Finally, Mendel implicitly expressed the idea of discreteness and binarity of hereditary inclinations: each trait is controlled by a maternal and paternal pair of inclinations (or genes, as they were later called), which are transmitted to hybrids through parent germ cells and do not disappear anywhere. The inclinations of traits do not affect each other, but diverge during the formation of germ cells and then freely combine in descendants (the laws of splitting and combining traits). The pairing of inclinations, the pairing of chromosomes, the double helix of DNA - this is the logical consequence and the main path for the development of genetics of the 20th century based on the ideas of Mendel.

Great discoveries are often not immediately recognized.

Although the works of the Society, where Mendel's article was published, were received by 120 scientific libraries, and Mendel sent an additional 40 prints, his work received only one favorable response - from K. Negeli, professor of botany from Munich. Negeli himself was engaged in hybridization, introduced the term "modification" and put forward a speculative theory of heredity. However, he doubted that the laws revealed on peas are universal and advised to repeat the experiments on other species. Mendel respectfully agreed with this. But his attempt to replicate the results obtained on peas on the hawk, with which Negeli worked, was unsuccessful. It wasn't until decades later that it became clear why. Seeds in the hawk are formed parthenogenetically, without the participation of sexual reproduction. There were other exceptions to the principles of Gregor Mendel, which were interpreted much later. This is part of the reason for the cold reception of his work. Since 1900, after the almost simultaneous publication of articles by three botanists - H. De Vries, K. Correns and E. Cermak-Seizenegg, who independently confirmed Mendel's data with their own experiments, there was an instant explosion of recognition of his work. 1900 is considered the birth year of genetics.

A beautiful myth has been created around the paradoxical fate of the discovery and rediscovery of Mendel's laws that his work remained completely unknown and that three rediscoverers came across it only by chance and independently, 35 years later. In fact, Mendel's work was cited about 15 times in the 1881 plant hybrid summary and was known to botanists. Moreover, as it turned out during the analysis of the workbooks of K. Correns, back in 1896 he read Mendel's article and even made its abstract, but at that time did not understand its deep meaning and forgot.

The style of conducting experiments and presenting the results in Mendel's classic article makes it very likely that the English mathematical statistician and geneticist R. E. Fisher came up with in 1936: Mendel first intuitively penetrated the "soul of facts" and then planned a series of many years of experiments so that illumined his idea came out in the best way. The beauty and severity of the numerical ratios of forms during splitting (3:1 or 9:3:3:1), the harmony in which the chaos of facts in the field of hereditary variability was placed, the ability to make predictions - all this internally convinced Mendel of the universal nature of the facts he found on pea laws. It remained to convince the scientific community. But this task is as difficult as the discovery itself. After all, knowing the facts does not mean understanding them. A major discovery is always associated with personal knowledge, feelings of beauty and wholeness based on intuitive and emotional components. It is difficult to convey this non-rational kind of knowledge to other people, because efforts and the same intuition are needed on their part.

The fate of Mendel's discovery - a delay of 35 years between the very fact of the discovery and its recognition in the community - is not a paradox, but rather the norm in science. So, 100 years after Mendel, already in the heyday of genetics, a similar fate of non-recognition for 25 years befell the discovery of B. McClintock of mobile genetic elements. And this despite the fact that, unlike Mendel, by the time of her discovery she was a highly respected scientist and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.

In 1868, Gregor Mendel was elected abbot of the monastery and practically retired from scientific studies. His archive contains notes on meteorology, beekeeping, and linguistics. On the site of the monastery in Brno, the Mendel Museum has now been created; a special journal "Folia Mendeliana" is published.

More about Gregor Mendel from another source:

The Austro-Hungarian scientist Gregor Mendel is rightfully considered the founder of the science of heredity - genetics. The work of the researcher, "rediscovered" only in 1900, brought posthumous fame to Mendel and served as the beginning of a new science, which was later called genetics. Until the end of the seventies of the XX century, genetics basically moved along the path laid down by Mendel, and only when scientists learned how to read the sequence of nucleic bases in DNA molecules, did they begin to study heredity not by analyzing the results of hybridization, but based on physicochemical methods.

IN primary school Gregor Mendel discovered outstanding mathematical abilities and, at the insistence of his teachers, continued his education at the gymnasium of the small town of Opava located nearby. However, there was not enough money in the family for the further education of Mendel. With great difficulty they managed to scrape together to complete the gymnasium course. The younger sister Teresa came to the rescue: she donated the dowry accumulated for her. With these funds, Mendel was able to study for some more time at university preparation courses. After that, the family's funds dried up completely.

The way out was proposed by professor of mathematics Franz. He advised Mendel to enter the Augustinian monastery in Brno. It was headed at that time by Abbot Cyril Napp, a man of broad views who encouraged science. In 1843, Mendel entered this monastery and received the name Gregor (at birth he was given the name Johann). Four years later, the monastery sent the twenty-five-year-old monk Mendel as a teacher in high school. Then from 1851 to 1853 he studied natural Sciences, especially physics, at the University of Vienna, after which he became a teacher of physics and natural science at a real school in the city of Brno.

His pedagogical activity, which lasted fourteen years, was highly valued by both the leadership of the school and the students. According to the memoirs of the latter, he was considered one of the most beloved teachers. For the last fifteen years of his life, Gregor Mendel was the abbot of the monastery.

From his youth, Gregor was interested in natural science. More of an amateur than a professional biologist, Mendel was constantly experimenting with various plants and bees. In 1856 he began the classic work on hybridization and analysis of the inheritance of traits in peas.

Gregor Mendel worked in a tiny, less than two and a half acres of a hectare, monastery garden. He sowed peas for eight years, manipulating two dozen varieties of this plant, different in flower color and seed type. He did ten thousand experiments. With his zeal and patience, he brought to considerable amazement the partners who helped him in necessary cases - Winkelmeyer and Lilenthal, as well as the gardener Maresh, who was very prone to drinking. If Mendel gave explanations to his assistants, they could hardly understand him.

Slowly life flowed in the monastery of St. Thomas. Gregor Mendel was also slow. Persistent, observant and very patient. Studying the shape of seeds in plants obtained as a result of crossings, in order to understand the patterns of transmission of only one trait ("smooth - wrinkled"), he analyzed 7324 peas. He examined each seed with a magnifying glass, comparing their shape and making notes.

With the experiments of Gregor Mendel, another countdown began, the main distinguishing feature of which was, again, the hybridological analysis introduced by Mendel of the heredity of individual traits of parents in the offspring. It is difficult to say what exactly made the naturalist turn to abstract thinking, distract from the bare numbers and numerous experiments. But it was precisely this that allowed the modest teacher of the monastic school to see a complete picture of the study; to see it only after having had to neglect the tenths and hundredths due to the inevitable statistical variations. Only then did the alternative traits literally “marked” by the researcher reveal something sensational to him: certain types of crossing in different offspring give a ratio of 3:1, 1:1, or 1:2:1.

Gregor Mendel turned to the work of his predecessors for confirmation of his suspicions. Those whom the researcher regarded as authorities came to different time and each in its own way to a general conclusion: genes can have dominant (suppressive) or recessive (suppressed) properties. And if so, Mendel concludes, then the combination of heterogeneous genes gives the same splitting of features that is observed in his own experiments. And in the very ratios that were calculated using his statistical analysis. “Checking with algebra the harmony” of the changes taking place in the resulting generations of peas, the scientist even introduced letter designations, marking the dominant state with a capital letter, and the recessive state of the same gene with a lowercase letter.

G. Mendel proved that each trait of an organism is determined by hereditary factors, inclinations (later they were called genes), transmitted from parents to descendants with germ cells. As a result of crossing, new combinations of hereditary traits may appear. And the frequency of occurrence of each such combination can be predicted.

Summarized, the results of the scientist's work look like this:

All hybrid plants of the first generation are the same and show the trait of one of the parents;
- among hybrids of the second generation, plants appear with both dominant and recessive traits in a ratio of 3:1;
- two characters in the offspring behave independently and in the second generation are found in all possible combinations;
- it is necessary to distinguish between traits and their hereditary inclinations (plants exhibiting dominant traits may latently carry the makings of recessive ones);
- the union of male and female gametes is random in relation to the inclinations of what signs these gametes carry.

In February and March 1865, in two reports at meetings of the provincial scientific circle, which was called the Society of Naturalists of the City of Brew, one of its ordinary members, Gregor Mendel, reported the results of his many years of research, completed in 1863. Despite the fact that his reports were rather coldly received by the members of the circle, he decided to publish his work. She saw the light in 1866 in the works of a society called "Experiments on Plant Hybrids."

Contemporaries did not understand Mendel and did not appreciate his work. For many scientists, the refutation of Mendel's conclusion would mean nothing less than the assertion of their own concept, which said that an acquired trait can be "squeezed" into the chromosome and turned into an inherited one. As soon as they did not crush the “seditious” conclusion of the modest abbot of the monastery from Brno, venerable scientists invented all sorts of epithets in order to humiliate and ridicule. But time has decided in its own way.

Gregor Mendel was not recognized by his contemporaries. Too simple, unsophisticated seemed to them a scheme, in which, without pressure and creaking, complex phenomena, which, in the view of mankind, were the basis of an unshakable pyramid of evolution, fit in. In addition, there were vulnerabilities in Mendel's concept. So, at least, it seemed to his opponents. And the researcher himself, too, because he could not dispel their doubts. One of the "culprits" of his failures was a hawk.

The botanist Karl von Negeli, a professor at the University of Munich, after reading Mendel's work, suggested that the author check the laws he discovered on a hawk. This small plant was Naegeli's favorite subject. And Mendel agreed. He spent a lot of energy on new experiments. Hawkweed is an extremely inconvenient plant for artificial crossing. Very small. I had to strain my eyesight, and it began to worsen more and more. The offspring obtained from crossing the hawk did not obey the law, as he believed, correct for everyone. Only years after biologists established the fact of a different, non-sexual reproduction of the hawk, the objections of Professor Negeli, Mendel's main opponent, were removed from the agenda. But neither Mendel nor Negeli himself, alas, were already dead.

Very figuratively, the greatest Soviet geneticist Academician B.L. Astaurov, the first president of the All-Union Society of Geneticists and Breeders named after Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov: “The fate of Mendel's classic work is perverse and not alien to drama. Although he had discovered, clearly shown, and to a large extent understood the very general laws of heredity, the biology of that time had not yet matured to the realization of their fundamental nature. Gregor Mendel himself foresaw with amazing insight the general validity of the patterns found on peas and received some evidence of their applicability to some other plants (three types of beans, two types of levkoy, corn and nocturnal beauty). However, his persistent and tedious attempts to apply the found patterns to the crossing of numerous varieties and species of hawks did not justify hopes and failed completely. How happy was the choice of the first object (peas), just as unsuccessful was the second. Only much later, already in our century, it became clear that the peculiar patterns of inheritance of traits in the hawk are an exception that only confirms the rule.

In Mendel's time, no one could have suspected that the crossings of hawkweed varieties he had undertaken did not actually occur, since this plant reproduces without pollination and fertilization, in a virgin way, through the so-called apogamy. The failure of painstaking and strenuous experiments, which caused an almost complete loss of vision, the burdensome duties of a prelate that fell on Mendel and advanced years forced him to stop his favorite studies.

A few more years passed, and Gregor Mendel passed away, not anticipating what passions would rage around his name and what glory it would eventually be covered with. Yes, glory and honor will come to Mendel after death. He will leave life without unraveling the secrets of the hawk, which did not “fit” into the laws of uniformity of hybrids of the first generation and the splitting of signs in the offspring that he derived.

It would have been much easier for Mendel if he had known about the work of another scientist Adams., who by that time had published a pioneering work on the inheritance of traits in humans. But Mendel was not familiar with this work. But Adams, on the basis of empirical observations of families with hereditary diseases, actually formulated the concept of hereditary inclinations, noticing the dominant and recessive inheritance of traits in humans. But botanists had not heard of the work of a doctor, and the doctor probably had so much practical medical work that there was simply not enough time for abstract reflection. In general, one way or another, but geneticists learned about Adams's observations only when they began to seriously study the history of human genetics.

Not lucky and Mendel. Too early a great explorer announced his discoveries scientific world. The latter was not yet ready for this. Only in 1900, having rediscovered Mendel's laws, the world was amazed at the beauty of the logic of the researcher's experiment and the elegant accuracy of his calculations. And although the gene continued to be a hypothetical unit of heredity, doubts about its materiality were finally dispelled.

Gregor Mendel was a contemporary of Charles Darwin. But the article of the Brunnian monk did not catch the eye of the author of The Origin of Species. One can only guess how Darwin would have appreciated Mendel's discovery if he had read it. Meanwhile, the great English naturalist showed considerable interest in the hybridization of plants. Crossing different forms of snapdragon, he wrote about the splitting of hybrids in the second generation: “Why is this so. God knows..."

Gregor Mendel has died January 6, 1884, the abbot of the monastery where he conducted his experiments with peas. Unnoticed by his contemporaries, Mendel, however, did not hesitate at all in his rightness. He said:

"My time will come." These words are inscribed on his monument, installed in front of the monastery garden, where he set up his experiments.

The famous physicist Erwin Schrodinger believed that the application of Mendel's laws is tantamount to the introduction of the quantum principle in biology.

The revolutionary role of Mendelism in biology became more and more evident. By the early thirties of our century, genetics and the laws of Mendel underlying it had become the recognized foundation of modern Darwinism. Mendelism has become theoretical basis to develop new high-yielding varieties of cultivated plants, more productive breeds of livestock, beneficial species microorganisms. Mendelism gave impetus to the development of medical genetics ...

A memorial plaque has been erected in the Augustinian monastery on the outskirts of Brno, and a beautiful marble monument to Gregor Mendel has been erected next to the front garden. The rooms of the former monastery, overlooking the front garden where Mendel conducted his experiments, have now been turned into a museum named after him. Here are collected manuscripts (unfortunately, some of them perished during the war), documents, drawings and portraits related to the life of a scientist, books that belonged to him with his marginal notes, a microscope and other tools that he used, as well as those published in different countries. books dedicated to him and his discovery.

The Austrian priest and botanist Gregor Johann Mendel laid the foundations for such a science as genetics. He mathematically deduced the laws of genetics, which are now called by his name.

Johann Mendel was born on July 22, 1822 in Heisendorf, Austria. As a child, he began to show interest in the study of plants and environment. After two years of study at the Institute of Philosophy in Olmütz, Mendel decided to enter a monastery in Brunn. This happened in 1843. During the rite of tonsure as a monk, he was given the name Gregor. Already in 1847 he became a priest.

The life of a clergyman consists not only of prayers. Mendel managed to devote a lot of time to study and science. In 1850, he decided to take the exams for a teacher's diploma, but failed, getting "A" in biology and geology. Mendel spent 1851-1853 at the University of Vienna, where he studied physics, chemistry, zoology, botany and mathematics. Upon his return to Brunn, Father Gregor nevertheless began to teach at the school, although he never passed the exam for a teacher's diploma. In 1868 Johann Mendel became abbot.

His experiments, which eventually led to sensational discovery laws of genetics, Mendel carried out in his small parish garden since 1856. It should be noted that the environment of the holy father contributed to scientific research. The fact is that some of his friends had very a good education in the field of natural science. They often attended various scientific seminars in which Mendel also participated. In addition, the monastery had a very rich library, of which, naturally, Mendel was a regular. He was very inspired by Darwin's book "The Origin of Species", but it is known for certain that Mendel's experiments began long before the publication of this work.

On February 8 and March 8, 1865, Gregor (Johann) Mendel spoke at meetings of the Natural History Society in Brunn, where he spoke about his unusual discoveries in a still unknown area (which would later become known as genetics). Gregor Mendel set up experiments on simple peas, however, later the range of experimental objects was significantly expanded. As a result, Mendel came to the conclusion that the various properties of a particular plant or animal do not just appear out of thin air, but depend on "parents". Information about these hereditary properties is transmitted through genes (a term coined by Mendel, from which the term "genetics" is derived). As early as 1866, Mendel's book Versuche uber Pflanzenhybriden (Experiments with Plant Hybrids) was published. However, contemporaries did not appreciate the revolutionary nature of the discoveries of the humble priest from Brunn.

Mendel's scientific research did not distract him from his daily duties. In 1868 he became abbot, tutor of an entire monastery. In this position, he perfectly defended the interests of the church in general and the monastery of Brunn in particular. He was good at avoiding conflicts with the authorities and avoiding excessive taxation. He was very much loved by parishioners and students, young monks.

On January 6, 1884, Father Gregor (Johann Mendel) passed away. He is buried in his native Brunn. Glory as a scientist came to Mendel after his death, when experiments similar to his experiments in 1900 were independently carried out by three European botanists who came to similar results with Mendel.

Gregor Mendel - teacher or monk?

The fate of Mendel after the Theological Institute has already been arranged. Ordained as a priest, the twenty-seven-year-old canon received an excellent parish in Old Brunn. He has been preparing for his Doctor of Divinity exams for a year now, when a major change is taking place in his life. Georg Mendel decides to change his fate rather abruptly and refuses to perform religious service. He would like to study nature and for the sake of this passion he decides to take a place in the Znaim gymnasium, where by this time the 7th grade is opening. He asks for the position of "supplement professor".

In Russia, “professor” is a purely university title, and in Austria and Germany even a first-grader mentor was called that way. The gymnasium suplent is rather, it can be translated as “ordinary teacher”, “teacher's assistant”. This could be a person who was fluent in the subject, but since he did not have a diploma, they hired him rather temporarily.

A document has also been preserved explaining such an unusual decision by Pastor Mendel. This is an official letter to Bishop Count Schafgotch from the abbot of the monastery of St. Thomas, Prelate Nappa.” Your Gracious Episcopal Eminence! By Decree No. Z 35338 of September 28, 1849, the High Imperial-Royal Land Presidium considered it a good thing to appoint Canon Gregor Mendel as a supplement at the Znaim Gymnasium. “... This canon has a God-fearing lifestyle, abstinence and virtuous behavior, his dignity is fully appropriate, combined with great devotion to the sciences ... However, he is somewhat less suitable for caring for the souls of the laity, for as soon as he finds himself at the sickbed , as from the sight of suffering, he is seized with insurmountable confusion, and from this he himself becomes dangerously ill, which prompts me to resign from him the duties of a confessor.

So, in the autumn of 1849, Canon and Supplement Mendel arrives in Znaim in order to take up new duties. Mendel receives 40 percent less than his colleagues who had diplomas. He is respected by his colleagues, his students love him. However, he teaches at the gymnasium not subjects of the natural science cycle, but classic literature, ancient languages and mathematics. Need a diploma. This will allow teaching botany and physics, mineralogy and natural history. There were 2 ways to the diploma. One is to graduate from the university, the other way is shorter - to pass in Vienna, before a special commission of the imperial ministry of cults and education, examinations for the right to teach such and such subjects in such and such classes.

Mendel's laws

The cytological foundations of Mendel's laws are based on:

Pairings of chromosomes (pairings of genes that determine the possibility of developing any trait)

Features of meiosis (processes occurring in meiosis that provide independent divergence of chromosomes with genes located on them to different cell pluses, and then to different gametes)

Features of the fertilization process (random combination of chromosomes carrying one gene from each allelic pair)

Scientific method of Mendel

The main patterns of transmission of hereditary traits from parents to offspring were established by G. Mendel in the second half of the 19th century. He crossed pea plants that differed in individual traits, and on the basis of the results obtained substantiated the idea of the existence of hereditary inclinations responsible for the manifestation of traits. In his works, Mendel applied the method of hybridological analysis, which has become universal in the study of the patterns of inheritance of traits in plants, animals, and humans.

Unlike his predecessors, who tried to trace the inheritance of many traits of an organism in the aggregate, Mendel investigated this complex phenomenon analytically. He observed the inheritance of only one pair or a small number of alternative (mutually exclusive) pairs of traits in varieties of garden peas, namely: white and red flowers; low and high growth; yellow and green, smooth and wrinkled pea seeds, etc. Such contrasting traits are called alleles, and the terms "allele" and "gene" are used as synonyms.

For crosses, Mendel used pure lines, that is, the offspring of one self-pollinating plant, which retains a similar set of genes. Each of these lines did not show splitting of signs. It was also essential in the methodology of hybridological analysis that Mendel for the first time accurately calculated the number of descendants - hybrids with different traits, that is, he mathematically processed the results obtained and introduced the symbolism accepted in mathematics to record various crossing options: A, B, C, D and etc. With these letters he designated the corresponding hereditary factors.

In modern genetics, the following symbols are accepted for crossing: parental forms - P; hybrids of the first generation obtained from crossing - F1; hybrids of the second generation - F2, third - F3, etc. The very crossing of two individuals is indicated by the sign x (for example: AA x aa).

Of the many different traits of crossed pea plants in the first experiment, Mendel took into account the inheritance of only one pair: yellow and green seeds, red and white flowers, etc. Such crossing is called monohybrid. If the inheritance of two pairs of traits is traced, for example, yellow smooth pea seeds of one variety and green wrinkled another, then the crossing is called dihybrid. If three and more pairs of characters, crossing is called polyhybrid.

Patterns of inheritance of traits

Alleles - denoted by letters of the Latin alphabet, while Mendel called some signs dominant (predominant) and designated them with capital letters - A, B, C, etc., others - recessive (inferior, suppressed), which he designated with lowercase letters - a, c, c, etc. Since each chromosome (carrier of alleles or genes) contains only one of two alleles, and homologous chromosomes are always paired (one paternal, the other maternal), diploid cells always have a pair of alleles: AA, aa, Aa , BB, bb. Bb, etc. Individuals and their cells that have a pair of identical alleles (AA or aa) in their homologous chromosomes are called homozygous. They can form only one type of germ cells: either gametes with the A allele or gametes with the a allele. Individuals that have both dominant and recessive Aa genes in the homologous chromosomes of their cells are called heterozygous; when germ cells mature, they form gametes of two types: gametes with the A allele and gametes with the a allele. In heterozygous organisms, the dominant allele A, which manifests itself phenotypically, is located on one chromosome, and the recessive allele a, suppressed by the dominant, is in the corresponding region (locus) of another homologous chromosome. In the case of homozygosity, each of the pair of alleles reflects either the dominant (AA) or recessive (aa) state of the genes, which in both cases will show their effect. The concept of dominant and recessive hereditary factors, first applied by Mendel, is firmly established in modern genetics. Later, the concepts of genotype and phenotype were introduced. The genotype is the totality of all the genes that an organism has. Phenotype - the totality of all the signs and properties of an organism that are revealed in the process individual development issued conditions. The concept of phenotype applies to any signs of an organism: features external structure, physiological processes, behavior, etc. The phenotypic manifestation of signs is always realized on the basis of the interaction of the genotype with a complex of factors of the internal and external environment.

Gregor Johann Mendel was born in Heisendorf in Silesia on July 22, 1822 into a peasant family. In elementary school, he showed outstanding mathematical abilities and, at the insistence of his teachers, continued his education at the gymnasium in the small nearby town of Opava. However, there was not enough money in the family for the further education of Mendel. With great difficulty they managed to scrape together to complete the gymnasium course. The younger sister Teresa came to the rescue: she donated the dowry accumulated for her. With these funds, Mendel was able to study for some more time at university preparation courses. After that, the family's funds dried up completely.

The way out was proposed by professor of mathematics Franz. He advised Mendel to enter the Augustinian monastery in Brno. It was headed at that time by Abbot Cyril Napp, a man of broad views who encouraged science. In 1843, Mendel entered this monastery and received the name Gregor (at birth he was given the name Johann). Through
For four years, the monastery sent the twenty-five-year-old monk Mendel as a teacher in a secondary school. Then, from 1851 to 1853, he studied natural sciences, especially physics, at the University of Vienna, after which he became a teacher of physics and natural science at a real school in the city of Brno.

His teaching activity, which lasted fourteen years, was highly appreciated by both the leadership of the school and the students. According to the memoirs of the latter, he was considered one of the most beloved teachers. For the last fifteen years of his life, Mendel was the abbot of the monastery.

Mendel worked in a tiny monastery garden, less than two and a half acres. He sowed peas for eight years, manipulating two dozen varieties of this plant, different in flower color and seed type. He did ten thousand experiments. With his zeal and patience, he brought to considerable amazement the partners who helped him in necessary cases - Winkelmeyer and Lilenthal, as well as the gardener Maresh, who was very prone to drinking. If Mendel and
gave explanations to his assistants, it is unlikely that they could understand him.

With Mendel's experiments, another countdown began, the main distinguishing feature of which was, again, Mendel's introduction of a hybridological analysis of the heredity of individual traits of parents in offspring. It is difficult to say what exactly made the naturalist turn to abstract thinking, to digress from bare figures and numerous experiments. But it was precisely this that allowed the modest teacher of the monastic school to see a complete picture of the study; to see it only after having had to neglect the tenths and hundredths due to the inevitable statistical variations. Only then did the alternative traits literally “marked” by the researcher reveal something sensational to him: certain types of crossing in different offspring give a ratio of 3:1, 1:1, or 1:2:1.

Mendel turned to the work of his predecessors for confirmation of a hunch that had flashed through his mind. Those whom the researcher considered to be authorities came at different times and each in his own way to a general conclusion: genes can have dominant (suppressive) or recessive (suppressed) properties. And if so, Mendel concludes, then the combination of heterogeneous genes gives the same splitting of features that is observed in his own experiments. And in the same ratios that were calculated using his statistical analysis. “Checking with algebra the harmony” of the changes taking place in the resulting generations of peas, the scientist even introduced letter designations, marking the dominant state with a capital letter, and the recessive state of the same gene with a lowercase letter.

Mendel proved that each trait of an organism is determined by hereditary factors, inclinations (later they were called genes), transmitted from parents to descendants with germ cells. As a result of crossing, new combinations of hereditary traits may appear. And the frequency of occurrence of each such combination can be predicted.

Summarized, the results of the scientist's work look like this:

All hybrid plants of the first generation are the same and show the trait of one of the parents;

Among the hybrids of the second generation, plants appear with both dominant and recessive traits in a ratio of 3:1;

The two traits behave independently in the offspring and occur in all possible combinations in the second generation;

It is necessary to distinguish between traits and their hereditary inclinations (plants exhibiting dominant traits may latently carry
the makings of a recessive);

The combination of male and female gametes is random in relation to the inclinations of what characters these gametes carry.

Despite the fact that his reports were rather coldly received by the members of the circle, he decided to publish his work. She saw the light in 1866 in the works of a society called "Experiments on Plant Hybrids."

Yes, Gregor Mendel was not recognized by his contemporaries. Too simple, unsophisticated seemed to them a scheme, in which, without pressure and creaking, complex phenomena, which, in the view of mankind, were the basis of an unshakable pyramid of evolution, fit in. In addition, there were vulnerabilities in Mendel's concept. So, at least, it seemed to his opponents. And the researcher himself, too, because he could not dispel their doubts. One of the "culprits" of his failures was
hawk.

Very figuratively, the greatest Soviet geneticist Academician B.L. Astaurov, the first president of the All-Union Society of Geneticists and Breeders named after N.I. Vavilova: “The fate of Mendel's classical work is perverse and not alien to drama. Although he had discovered, clearly shown, and to a large extent understood the very general laws of heredity, the biology of that time had not yet matured to the realization of their fundamental nature. Mendel himself foresaw with amazing insight the general validity of the patterns found on peas and received some evidence of their applicability to some other plants (three types of beans, two types of levkoy, corn and nocturnal beauty). However, his persistent and tedious attempts to apply the found patterns to the crossing of numerous varieties and species of hawks did not justify hopes and failed completely. How happy was the choice of the first object (peas), just as unsuccessful was the second. Only much later, already in our century, it became clear that the peculiar patterns of inheritance of traits in the hawk are an exception that only confirms the rule. In Mendel's time, no one could have suspected that the crossings of hawkweed varieties he had undertaken did not actually occur, since this plant reproduces without pollination and fertilization, in a virgin way, through the so-called apogamy. The failure of painstaking and strenuous experiments, which caused an almost complete loss of vision, the burdensome duties of a prelate that fell on Mendel and advanced years forced him to stop his favorite studies.

It would have been much easier for Mendel if he had known about the work of another scientist Adams, who by that time had published a pioneering work on the inheritance of traits in humans. But Mendel was not familiar with this work. But Adams, on the basis of empirical observations of families with hereditary diseases, actually formulated the concept of hereditary inclinations, noticing the dominant and recessive inheritance of traits in humans. But botanists had not heard of the work of a doctor, and the doctor probably had so much practical medical work that there was simply not enough time for abstract reflection. In general, one way or another, but geneticists learned about Adams's observations only when they began to seriously study the history of human genetics.

Not lucky and Mendel. Too early the great explorer reported his discoveries to the scientific world. The latter was not yet ready for this. Only in 1900, having rediscovered Mendel's laws, the world was amazed at the beauty of the logic of the researcher's experiment and the elegant accuracy of his calculations. And although the gene continued to be a hypothetical unit of heredity, doubts about its materiality were finally dispelled.

Mendel was a contemporary of Charles Darwin. But the article of the Brunnian monk did not catch the eye of the author of The Origin of Species. One can only guess how Darwin would have appreciated Mendel's discovery if he had read it. Meanwhile, the great English naturalist showed considerable interest in the hybridization of plants. Crossing different forms of snapdragon, he wrote about the splitting of hybrids in the second generation: “Why is this so. God knows..."

Mendel died on January 6, 1884, the abbot of the monastery where he conducted his experiments with peas. Unnoticed by his contemporaries, Mendel, however, did not hesitate at all in his rightness. He said: "My time will come." These words are inscribed on his monument, installed in front of the monastery garden, where he set up his experiments.

The famous physicist Erwin Schrodinger believed that the application of Mendel's laws is tantamount to the introduction of the quantum principle in biology.

The revolutionary role of Mendelism in biology became more and more evident. By the early thirties of our century, genetics and the laws of Mendel underlying it had become the recognized foundation of modern Darwinism. Mendelism became the theoretical basis for the development of new high-yielding varieties of cultivated plants, more productive livestock breeds, and useful types of microorganisms. Mendelism gave impetus to the development of medical genetics ...

A memorial plaque has now been erected in the Augustinian monastery on the outskirts of Brno, and a beautiful marble monument to Mendel has been erected next to the front garden. The rooms of the former monastery, overlooking the front garden where Mendel conducted his experiments, have now been turned into a museum named after him. Here are collected manuscripts (unfortunately, some of them perished during the war), documents, drawings and portraits related to the life of a scientist, books that belonged to him with his marginal notes, a microscope and other tools that he used, as well as those published in different countries. books dedicated to him and his discovery.

Javascript is disabled in your browser.
ActiveX controls must be enabled in order to make calculations!

Difficult academic years

monk and teacher

Experiments with peas

Late recognition

Heritage

You may be interested