Demystifying the mythical Mendel: a biographical review

Abstract

Gregor Mendel is widely recognised as the founder of genetics. His experiments led him to devise an enduring theory, often distilled into what are now known as the principles of segregation and independent assortment. Although he clearly articulated these principles, his theory is considerably richer, encompassing the nature of fertilisation, the role of hybridisation in evolution, and aspects often considered as exceptions or extensions, such as pleiotropy, incomplete dominance, and epistasis. In an admirable attempt to formulate a more expansive theory, he researched hybridisation in at least twenty plant genera, intentionally choosing some species whose inheritance he knew would deviate from the patterns he observed in the garden pea (Pisum sativum). Regrettably, he published the results of only a few of these additional experiments; evidence of them is largely confined to letters he wrote to Carl von Nägeli. Because most original documentation is lost or destroyed, scholars have attempted to reconstruct his history and achievements from fragmentary evidence, a situation that has led to unfortunate omissions, errors, and speculations. These range from historical uncertainties, such as what motivated his experiments, to unfounded suppositions regarding his discoveries, including assertions that he never articulated the principles ascribed to him, staunchly opposed Darwinism, fictitiously recounted experiments, and falsified data to better accord with his theory. In this review, I have integrated historical and scientific evidence within a biographical framework to dispel misconceptions and provide a clearer and more complete view of who Mendel was and what he accomplished.