Biography
Gregor Mendel is a monk scientist and a devout researcher, an outstanding person, which was able to be abbot, to enter the history of the "father" of genetics. During his life, his works did not receive recognition of contemporaries, but the descendants of the beginning of the twentieth century, who studied the issues of heredity, unequivocally pointed to the biologist-Augustine as the forerunner of all thoughts in this area.Childhood and youth
About the early years in the biography of the scientist knows little. Born on July 20, 1822 in Heinzendorf, the historical region of Silesia, originally belonged to the Austrian Empire (now - Ginchice, Czech Republic). Often in sources indicate instead of the birthday, the baptism of the future monk - July 22, which is mistaken.
The second child in the peasant family of Anton and Rosina, where the daughters of Veronica and Terezi were also born. Had German-Slavic roots. The land where the family lived, belonged to the genus of the above century. Today, the father's home of the scientist is turned into a museum.
Love for nature showed at an early age. He carried the gardener enthusiastically, being a boy, she was engaged in beekeeping. Rosage a weak child - throughout his studies often missed months of occupations due to diseases. Having finished with education in a rural school, he entered the gymnasium Troppau (now the Czech city of Opawa), where he studied 6 classes.
Then, for 3 years, studied practical and theoretical philosophy and physics at the Olmyutsk Institute (now Czech University of Palatsky in Olomouc). An interesting fact that at the same time the Faculty of Natural History and Agriculture was headed by Johann Karl Nestler, who was interested in the study of hereditary signs of plants and animals, such as sheep.
Mendel was seriously transferred financial inconsistency, because he could not pay for education. So that brother has learned further, Teresia gave her own dowry. Later, Gregor rubbed the debt, having supported three nephews - sons of sisters. Two of the young men under his protectorate subsequently became doctors.
In 1843, Menthendel decides to get into the monks. To a greater extent, this decision is dictated not by the pupidation of the farm son, but by the fact that the spiritual persons received education for free. According to him, the monastic life saved from "Eternal Anxiety about livelihoods." After taking a post in the Augustinian Monastery of St. Thomas in Brynne (now Czech Brno), Gregor, Gregor Johann Mendel, and immediately began her studies in the Bogoslovsky Institute. At the age of 25 he received a san priest.
The science
Mendel, naturalist and at the same time a religious figure, an extraordinary figure. The spikeness of the situation adds the fact that the area studied in the future gave the beginning of a new scientific discipline, laying the theory of divine design on genomes. Gregor's tailed to knowledge all-consuming. In general, I read the volume of scientific literature, replaced teachers in the lessons at the local school. The man dreamed of passing the exam on the teacher, but failed on geology and biology.
In 1849-1851, he taught students of the Znom Gymnasium Languages and Mathematics. Later he moved to Vienna, where before the 1853 he himself studied natural history at the University of Vienna under the patronage of Botany and one of the first cytologists of Franz Unger and physics from the famous Christian Doppler.
Upon returning in Bunnne, these disciplines taught in the highest real school, although he was not a graduate specialist. In 1856, he again tried to pass the exams on the teacher, but again did not pass the biology. In the same year, the Mendel is seriously enjoys scientific experiences with plants, interest in the hybridization of which was still shown in Vienna. For 7 years, until 1863, Gregor experimented with peas in the monastery garden and took openings during these years.
Works on the hybridization of plants were carried out long before Mendel, but only he managed to bring patterns and structuring the basic abstracts of the work that genetically would use up to the 70s of the twentieth century.
In more than 10 thousand experiments, over 20 varieties of pea, distinguished flowers and seeds participated. Titanic work, given that each pea need to be inspected manually. For transmission in crossed forms, only one feature "wrinkled-smooth" Gregor looked around more than 7 thousand peas, and there were 7 such signs in the work.
The knowledge gained was based on the teachings on heredity, on which genetics is based. In 1865, he published a scientific report "Experiments on plant hybrids" in one of the volumes of the Bunnian natural scientist society, where they formed the main laws of inheritance, included in history as the laws of Mendel.
The information received by the monk is the following:
- The first generation hybrids are the same and carry a dominant sign of one of the parents. For example, crossing peas with white and red flowers, the offspring is born only with red inflorescences.
- The second generation hybrids are split, that is, they are divided into those who receive dominant signs of the parent, and those who received recessive not by chance, but in a mathematically pronounced relationship.
- Both features are found in different combinations and exist separately, with a hybrid with a manifested dominant sign can be a carrier of recessive deposissive deposits and, on the contrary, which will be shown in the following generations.
- Men's and female gamets are united by chance, not in accordance with the deposits they carry.
Gregor was confident that research achievements had fundamental importance for the development of science, so I ordered dozens of writing work and sent out to the prominent nerds of that time. Alas, contemporaries did not interest publication. Only Professor of the University in Munich Karl von Nemeley advised to test theory on other species.
Mendel made a number of experiments on crossing on other plants and insects - Favorites from childhood bees. Unfortunately, Gregor was waiting for disappointment. By coinciding the circumstances and the form of the plant, and the bees had the features of the fertilization process and could multiply by parthenogenesis - "virgin way." Because of this, the data obtained on the experiments with peas were not confirmed.
His contribution to science was assessed much later - at the beginning of the twentieth century, when in 1900 a number of scientists were recorded independently of each other, the postulates derived by Mendel still in the preceding century. This year is made to indicate the year of birth of genetics. The role of Mendelamin in it is great.
The Soviet genetics Boris Astaurov described the scientific searches of Gregor as:
"The fate of the classical work of Mendel is becoming marked and not alien to drama. Although they were discovered, it is clearly shown and largely understood by the very common laws of heredity, the biology of that time has not yet grown to the awareness of their fundamentality.Gregor Mendel himself, and surprising insight foresaw the general patience of the patterns found on the peas. A few more years have passed, and he left life, not to the presentation, what passions will be raging around his name and what glory it will eventually be covered. "
Religion
Mendel accepted Monastic tonsure at 21 for reasons related to the solution of material difficulties and access to knowledge. Because of the restrictions imposed by the chosen way, took celibacy, and the concept of personal life was absent for him. In the Catholic tradition, the spiritual persons keep the vow of celibacy, therefore, Mendel's wife did not have, as well as children.
In 25, he became a priest in the Augustinian monastery of St. Thomas, who was the cultural and scientific center of the region. Abbot Cyril Science has encouraged the interest of his brethren to science, the monks supervised the education of schoolchildren at the surrounding territories. Mendel also loved the children with pleasure and was a favorite teacher. In the monastery garden, he held experiments on hybridization famous.
In 1868, after the death of the spiritual mentor, Mendel occupies the post of Abbot Starobrnensky (Augustinsky) Monastery. From the same year, large-scale scientific searches ended, leaving the place of trouble on the sacred place. Gregor was engaged in administrative work, entered into a controversy with secular power for the introduction of additional taxes for religious institutions. Post occupied until the end of life.
Death
Abbot Mendel died in 1884 due to chronic jade, in 61 years. At the site of the abbey, which was served by almost 40 years, later opened the museum of his name. The grave is in Brno. It is crowned by a monument with the words belonging to the monk:"My time will come."Bibliography
- 1866 - "Experiments on vegetation hybrids"