Inheritance is the passing of traits from parents to offspring. Our modern understanding of inheritance comes from a set of principles proposed by Austrian monk and researcher Gregor Mendel in 1865.

The year was 1900. Three European botanists — one Dutch, one German and one Austrian — all reported results from breeding experiments in plants. Each claimed that they had independently discovered ...

All of the different plants on Earth—from mango trees to marigolds—have come about thanks to the simple rules of genetic inheritance, which determine how traits are passed on from one generation to ...

This Special Issue celebrates Mendel’s 200th birthday by focusing on exceptions to the Mendelian ‘laws’. Discovery in science is often driven forward more by exceptions than by rules. In genetics, ...

For more than a century, Mendelian genetics has shaped how we think about inheritance: one gene, one trait. It is a model that still echoes through textbooks—and one that is increasingly reaching its ...