Mendelian Genetics

Gregor Mendel's 1866 pea plant experiments uncovered the laws of inheritance—dominance, segregation, and independent assortment—decades before the scientific community recognized their significance. This discovery established genetics as a quantitative science, with a 3:1 phenotypic ratio in monohybrid crosses remaining a textbook standard. While Cell Theory provides the structural basis of life, Mendelian Genetics is faster than the average discovery in predictive power, allowing scientists to forecast trait inheritance with over 99% accuracy under ideal conditions. It outperforms the Discovery of Antibodies in breadth, not only explaining immunity as an inherited defense but also driving agricultural innovations that boosted crop yields by 15% in the 20th century.