4.01 Introduction to Genetics

Ah, here is our first stop. The information desk! All of the park transportation (monorail, trams, and railroad) will eventually bring you back here, so if you get lost this is a good place to return to for help.

As we head into the park, let's get familiar with the important places and terms on the park map. These terms are used by the park personnel, and there will be many rewarding opportunities (good grades) if you can remember and use them correctly.

Park History: Peas Please!

As mentioned earlier, Genetic Park is one of the oldest theme parks in the world. It was founded in the mid 19th century by Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk. That statue was created in his honor, because he is considered the Father of Genetics.

Let me tell you a little story about how Mendel got his start in the genetics business. Mendel was in charge of the garden at the monastery. Over the years as he was working with the garden peas, he noticed that some pea plants were very tall and others were quite short. Mendel decided to have a little fun with his gardening so he purposely sorted and planted a patch of seeds from tall pea plants and a patch of seeds from short pea plants. If a short plant popped up in the tall pea plant patch, he would pull it out, and likewise with the short. He grew these tall and short patches until he had two patches that produced ONLY the correct pea plant for the patch.

After experimenting with his pea plants, Mendel noticed

• that his true tall pea plants produced only tall offspring
• while his true short pea plants produced all short offspring

After observing his peas for several more generations, with no exceptions to weed out, Mendel called them "pure" bred pea plants. Today, scientist refers to these same plants as homozygous because they carry the same alleles; that is, they have a pair of genes that both code for the same trait.

Now hang on, this is where it gets interesting. Mendel crossed (mated) his pure bred tall plants with his pure bred short plants. Care to make a guess on what happened?

This was the birth of genetics. We will see why the short trait disappeared at our next stop.

Now, let's look at some of your traits? What traits do you share with a parent, or a brother, or sister?

Continue exploring Genetic Park by clicking on the Travel Log tab!