Mendelian Genetics

Today, it is difficult to think about evolution without also thinking about genetics. However, that wasn't always the case. Although Gregor Mendel performed his pioneering experiments following the inheritance pattern of several traits in pea plants just a few short years after the publication of On the Origin of Species, it took decades before the fields of Darwinian evolution and Mendelian genetics were fused together in the modern synthesis. In this video, That Bio Doc discusses Mendel's experiments and how the results of those experiments laid the foundation for our modern understanding of genetics and evolutionary biology. Learn about key genetic concepts such as dominance, the difference between genotype and phenotype, and how to calculate the odds of inheriting specific traits based on the genetic make-up of the parental generation using mathematical operations and Punnett squares.