Gregor Mendel ____.
A) discovered the structure of DNA
B) claimed that each individual carries a pair of "factors" for a given trait
C) demonstrated that traits carried by parents are "blended" in their offspring
D) cross-bred thirty different species of pea plants over a span of fifty years
E) reasoned that each parent carries one gene for a specific trait

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Mendel's laws of inheritance, discovered through his studies on pea plants, stated that each individual carries a pair of "factors" (later known as alleles) for a given trait. This is commonly referred to as the principle of segregation. Mendel also discovered the principle of independent assortment, which states that alleles for different traits are inherited independently of each other. He is considered the father of modern genetics.