GREGOR MENDEL
The Father of Modern
Genetics
19th Century
Gregor Mendel was only given
the name “Gregor” when he
became a monk. How did this happen?
Schooling
He was very good at school, but his parents
were very poor, and could only afford to send
him to university for one year. One of his
professors at University suggested that he
should join a monastery, as monasteries had a
strong reputation for teaching science and
being experts in science. He took this advice,
and joined a monastery where the Abbot (the
Head), was particularly interested in how genes
are passed down in animals and plants. He did
not make this decision lightly, as it would mean
a life of celibacy (remaining unmarried) and
devotion to God. But he decided this was what
he wanted to do.
Soon after joining, he began to do experiments,
encouraged by the Abbot. While he was still
only in his twenties, he
began to discover the
science that would make
him famous – but only
after his death. He
discovered that if he bred
green pea plants with
yellow pea plants, they
would always come out
yellow. He still needed to
explain why.
Teaching and Experimenting
During his 15 years of teaching, he started
doing more experiments. He discovered that
children are not a smooth blend of their
parents’ genes, but that genes combine in
different combinations. His discoveries allow us
today to manipulate genes and eliminate
genetic diseases. But even though he was a
great biologist, he could not accept Darwin’s
idea that life on earth is just the result of blind
chance and accidents in nature. This is ironic,
because Mendel’s research actually explains
Darwin’s theory – why animals do change
genetically from one generation to another.
Becoming Abbot
Mendel was calm and patient. He had a great
love of animals and birds. He had a practical
mind. His community chose him to be their
Head (the Abbot) because they trusted in his
good sense and knew his love of God was
sincere. Being Abbot meant that he no longer
had time for scientific research, and he had a
lot of other problems to deal with, like trying to
stop the government from putting heavy taxes
on the monasteries.
Mendel’s work was ignored by most people
during his lifetime, partly because a growing
number of people in Austria were saying that
“religious minds” could not do science. Only
100 years later, was he recognized as
establishing the correct basics of modern
genetics.
Priestly Life
Mendel;s life changed, when he became
ordained as a priest, and got his own parish in
1848. He did not enjoy working as a parish
priest and came back to the monastery, to train
as a teacher, but he failed his teaching exams,
so the monastery sent him to university to
study more chemistry, physics and biology. He
returned to the monastery, and from then on
taught for fifteen years . He was genuinely
devoted to teaching and his pupils loved his
science lessons.
At the monastery in Brünn in the early 1860s. Mendel is
pictured back right, looking at something in his left hand.
Abbot Napp in the front row, encouraged Mendel’s
science and heredity studies.