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who were the founders of genetics and when was it discovered

The modern science of genetics is usually traced to the work of Gregor Mendel , an Augustinian monk often called the “father of genetics,” who did his key experiments between 1856 and 1863 and published them in 1866. The term “genetics” and the recognition of a full scientific field emerged later, around 1900, when several botanists rediscovered Mendel’s work and the new discipline began to take shape.

Quick Scoop

  • Gregor Mendel (1822–1884) is considered the founder of modern genetics thanks to his pea-plant experiments revealing clear patterns of inheritance.
  • He carried out his classic crossing experiments on garden peas from about 1856 to 1863 and presented his findings in 1865; his paper was published in 1866.
  • His work went largely unnoticed until 1900, when Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, and Erich von Tschermak independently rediscovered his results and effectively launched genetics as a named scientific field.
  • Earlier thinkers (like Aristotle and others in antiquity) speculated about heredity, but they did not establish the precise, quantitative laws that Mendel did.

A tiny story version

In the mid‑1800s, a quiet monk in a monastery garden started cross‑breeding pea plants and counting thousands of seeds. By tracking traits like seed color and plant height from one generation to the next, he realized that heredity followed simple numerical rules instead of blending smoothly, and that “factors” (what we now call genes) are passed on in pairs, with some dominating others. Mendel wrote this all up in 1866, but almost nobody noticed, so he died without fame. Only decades later, around 1900, did other scientists stumble on his paper, confirm his patterns, and recognize that this forgotten monk had quietly founded a whole new science: genetics.

TL;DR: The founder of modern genetics is Gregor Mendel, who discovered the basic laws of heredity through pea‑plant experiments done between 1856–1863 and published in 1866; genetics became an official scientific field when his work was rediscovered around 1900.

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