The Importance of Gregor Mendel's Work in Genetics

The video discusses Gregor Mendel's pioneering work on genetic inheritance using pea plants. Mendel's experiments revealed that traits are inherited in predictable patterns, challenging the then-prevailing idea of blended inheritance. He introduced the concept of 'true breeding' and discovered that traits like plant height follow a 3:1 ratio in the second generation. Although initially ignored, Mendel's work was later recognized as foundational to genetics when chromosomes were found to behave like his proposed 'units', now known as genes.

Describe the significance of the 3 to 1 ratio Mendel observed in his experiments.

What was the initial reaction to Mendel's work, and how was it later understood?