Question

what were some of Mendel's successes in genetics?

Answer 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel

Answer 2

•The pea plant which Mendel chose for conducting experiments, is most ideal for controlled breeding, since it can easily be subjected to cross pollination.
•He identified very clear contrasting characters in the pea plants.
•He selected pure breeding plants for his experiments. He is said to have spent about 2 years to ascertain this characteristic feature.
•Mendel concentrated at a time only on the inheritance on one particular trait, with the two contrasting conditions, instead of attempting the inheritance of entire set of characters in the plant.
•He maintained an accurate record of all the observations he made on the breeding experiments that he had designed.
•He pooled the data obtained from similar experiments for different characteristics and analysed the results by using statistical methods and applying the law of probability.
•He was able to effectively check the flowers under investigation from contamination by unwanted pollen grains.
•Mendel was fortunate enough in choosing the seven pairs of contrasting characters in pea plants. It was later discovered that the genes responsible for these characters are located on separate chromosomes.
•Mendel was also fortunate in the sense that the characters he had chosen in the pea plant did not show any interaction or linkage.
hope this helps:)