From Mendel to Minecraft: the 200-year evolution of genetics

In 1822, Gregor Mendel - the founding father of genetics – was born. In 1866, he published “Experiments on plant hybrids”, a 40-pager in which he describes the transmission of characteristics in pea to their progeny. Little did he know that it would become the foundation of modern genetics. In the early 1900s, after his death in 1884, his findings were rediscovered and Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance grew into the basis of modern biology. To celebrate his 200th birthday we look back and ahead together with VIB scientists Ive De Smet, Joren De Ryck, and Matilde Sanches from the VIB-UGent Center for Plant Systems Biology, and Seppe De Winter from the VIB-KU Leuven Center for Brain & Disease Research.