Mendelian inheritance
Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, had shown through experiments with 30,000 pea plants that inherited physical characteristics were regularly controlled by a pair of elements (or genes), with both the “male” and “female” parent (or part of the plant) contributing a gene. In plants, such physical characteristics might include size, color, and texture. In many instances, one gene type was dominant over the other. A “tall” gene for the height of a plant might be dominant over a “short” gene, and thus a combination of tall-and-short genes for height would produce a tall plant, although that plant could now pass on a short gene to its offspring. If another tall plant did the same, a short plant would result.
References
- Whitaker, Robert. (2002). Mad in America Chapter 3. UNFIT TO BREED (p. 76). New York, NY: Basic Books.