Mendel and his legacy

Abstract

This is the last year of the first century of genetics, the science of heredity, since the belated rediscovery of Mendel's research in 1900. For many of today's biological scientists and physicians, Mendel remains an obscure figure; often his work is given only cursory treatment in school and undergraduate courses in the race to understand the exciting technology of DNA. History has relegated Gregor Mendel to a position analogous to that held by Samuel Pepys. Pepys, usually portrayed as an amorous buffoon, had a rich life in science and society outside the brief confines of his diary; he was one of the principal architects of the British Navy. So is Mendel perceived as a humble bespectacled monk, obsessionally fertilizing drab pea plants and fudging his data in a monastery garden. Hitherto, biographical details have been scant but a comprehensive account of his life and work by a Czech geneticist close to it has revealed Mendel's eclectic genius.1 His scientific mastery and perfection were incomparable. This year is the quartercentenary of another revolutionary, Oliver Cromwell, of whom John Buchan said: `a great man lays on posterity the duty of understanding him'. I cannot pretend completely to understand Mendel but it is salutary to review his legacy and pay homage to the man whose biological discoveries have so much influenced medical thinking this century.

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