Chronological Milestones in Mendelian Genetics
| Year | Scientist(s) | Discovery/Event |
|---|---|---|
| 1856–1863 | Gregor Johann Mendel | Conducted pea hybridisation experiments in Brno (now Czech Republic) |
| 1865 | Gregor Mendel | Presented "Experiments on Plant Hybrids" to Natural History Society — Laws of Segregation and Independent Assortment |
| 1866 | Gregor Mendel | Published paper in Proceedings of the Brno Natural History Society — ignored for 34 years |
| 1869 | Friedrich Miescher | Discovered nucleic acid (nuclein) — a biochemical hint toward the material basis of heredity |
| 1882 | Walther Flemming | Described mitosis and chromosomes (chromatin) |
| 1890s | Various | Meiosis described; chromosomes identified as paired structures |
| 1900 | Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, Erich von Tschermak | Independently rediscovered Mendel's Laws — "rediscovery of Mendel" |
| 1902 | Walter Sutton | Proposed Chromosomal Theory — genes on chromosomes (Sutton's chromosome paper) |
| 1902 | Theodor Boveri | Independently proposed chromosome basis of heredity through sea urchin experiments |
| 1908 | Karl Landsteiner | Described ABO blood group system (discovered 1901) and its inheritance; Nobel Prize 1930 |
| 1910–1915 | Thomas Hunt Morgan | Demonstrated gene linkage in Drosophila; Nobel Prize 1933 |
| 1913 | Alfred Sturtevant (Morgan's student) | Constructed first genetic map using recombination frequencies |
| 1944 | Avery, MacLeod, McCarty | Demonstrated DNA (not protein) is the genetic material |
| 1953 | Watson and Crick | Described double helix structure of DNA — provided molecular basis for Mendelian alleles |
Key Insight
Mendel's laws (1865) were formulated ~40 years before the Chromosomal Theory (1902) and ~90 years before DNA structure (1953). The physical basis for his mathematical laws was discovered decades after his death.