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Gregor Mendel is highly attributed for his work in genetics. The father of genetic studied the
inheritance of characteristics from the common garden pea plant, 3

 , and was
credited with discovering the two basic laws of inheritance: the law of segregation and the law of
independent assortment.

1.m ¦ll characteristics are controlled by pair of .

2.m a) ¦ characteristic is a distinctive inherited feature. Three examples of 

 in:

m 3
 - Height of plant, seed colour, seed shape.
m ¦
 - Eye colour, height, colour of fur/skin.

b) ¦ trait is a variant for each characteristic. Two examples of 
 in:

m 3
 - Yellow colour of seed, wrinkled seed shape.

m ¦
 - Grey fur colour, green eyes.

3.m ¦ gene is a specific segment of Œ ¦.

4.m Two genes, each found on the same locus along a pair of   chromosomes, are
needed to determine one characteristic.

5.m Each member of the pair of genes determining a particular characteristic is called an

 .

6.m ¦ M
 allele is one which, when present, even singly, is strong enough to
determine the phenotype. The two following conditions can allow a dominant allele to
express itself in the phenotype.
a) Homozygous dominant: two dominant alleles present.
b) Heterozygous dominant: one dominant allele and one recessive allele present.

7.m ¦  allele can only determine a phenotype if it is present on both homologous
chromosomes.