Florida Biology EOC Practice Test 2026 - Free Biology End-of-Course Practice Questions and Study Guide

Gregor Mendel is known as the father of genetics due to his pioneering work in the study of inheritance patterns. He conducted experiments using pea plants, which allowed him to establish fundamental principles of heredity. Pea plants were advantageous for his research because they have distinct, easily observable traits—such as flower color and seed shape—and reproduce quickly. This permitted Mendel to conduct numerous controlled experiments over several generations. He formulated key concepts, including the law of segregation and the law of independent assortment, which describe how alleles are passed from parents to offspring. His meticulous approach and the clear traits he studied in pea plants laid the groundwork for modern genetics, highlighting the importance of choice in experimental organisms.