Mendel may refer to:

• Gregor Mendel, influential figure in the study of genetics
• Lafayette Mendel (1872–1935) was an american biochemist
• Menachem Mendel, a common Jewish male personal name
• Mendel (surname), people with the surname Mendel
• Mendel University Brno in the Czech Republic (formerly Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry)
• Mendel Biotechnology, Inc., a plant biotechnology company in Hayward, California
• Mendel (lunar crater), a crater on the Moon
• Mendel (Martian crater)
• 3313 Mendel, an asteroid named in honour of Gregor Mendel
• Mendelpass, a mountain pass in Northern Italy
• RepRap 2.0 (Mendel) A self-replicating machine.

See also[link]

• Mendel Polar Station in Antarctica
• L. Mendel Rivers (1905–1970), US Congressman
• USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686), a US submarine
• Mendele
• Mandel
• Mendelssohn
• Mende (disambiguation)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Gregor Mendel
Born	Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-07-20)July 20, 1822 Heinzendorf bei Odrau, Austrian Empire
Died	January 6, 1884(1884-01-06) (aged 61) Brno (Brünn), Austria-Hungary
Nationality	Empire of Austria-Hungary
Fields	Genetics
Institutions	Abbey of St. Thomas in Brno
Alma mater	University of Olomouc University of Vienna
Known for	Discovering genetics

Gregor Johann Mendel (July 20, 1822^[1] – January 6, 1884) was an Austrian^[2] scientist and Augustinian friar who gained posthumous fame as the founder of the new science of genetics. Mendel demonstrated that the inheritance of certain traits in pea plants follows particular patterns, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance. Although the significance of Mendel's work was not recognized until the turn of the 20th century, the independent rediscovery of these laws formed the foundation of the modern science of genetics.^[3]

Biography[link]

Mendel was born into an ethnic German family in Heinzendorf bei Odrau, Austrian Silesia, Austrian Empire (now Hynčice, Czech Republic), and was baptized two days later as Johann. He was the son of Anton and Rosine (Schwirtlich) Mendel, and had one older sister (Veronica) and one younger (Theresia). They lived and worked on a farm which had been owned by the Mendel family for at least 130 years.^[4] During his childhood, Mendel worked as a gardener, studied beekeeping, and as a young man attended Gymnasium (school) in Opava. From 1840 to 1843, he studied practical and theoretical philosophy as well as physics at the University of Olomouc Faculty of Philosophy, taking a year off because of illness.

When Mendel entered the Faculty of Philosophy, the Department of Natural History and Agriculture was headed by Johann Karl Nestler, who conducted extensive research of hereditary traits of plants and animals, especially sheep. In 1843 Mendel began his training as a priest. Upon recommendation of his physics teacher Friedrich Franz,^{[citation needed]} he entered the Augustinian Abbey of St Thomas in Brno in 1843. Born Johann Mendel, he took the name Gregor upon entering religious life. In 1851 he was sent to the University of Vienna to study under the sponsorship of Abbot C. F. Napp. At Vienna, his professor of physics was Christian Doppler.^[5] Mendel returned to his abbey in 1853 as a teacher, principally of physics, and by 1867, he had replaced Napp as abbot of the monastery.^[6]

Besides his work on plant breeding while at St Thomas's Abbey, Mendel also bred bees in a bee house that was built for him, using bee hives that he designed.^[7] He also studied astronomy and meteorology,^[6] founding the 'Austrian Meteorological Society' in 1865.^[5] The majority of his published works were related to meteorology.^[5]

Experiments on plant hybridization[link]

Gregor Mendel, who is known as the "father of modern genetics", was inspired by both his professors at the University of Olomouc (i.e. Friedrich Franz & Johann Karl Nestler) and his colleagues at the monastery (e.g., Franz Diebl) to study variation in plants, and he conducted his study in the monastery's 2 hectares (4.9 acres) experimental garden,^[8] which was originally planted by Napp in 1830.^[6] Between 1856 and 1863 Mendel cultivated and tested some 29,000 pea plants (i.e., Pisum sativum). This study showed that one in four pea plants had purebred recessive alleles, two out of four were hybrid and one out of four were purebred dominant. His experiments led him to make two generalizations, the Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment, which later became known as Mendel's Laws of Inheritance.

Mendel did read his paper, Versuche über Pflanzenhybriden (Experiments on Plant Hybridization), at two meetings of the Natural History Society of Brünn in Moravia in 1865. It was received favorably and generated reports in several local newspapers.^[9] When Mendel's paper was published in 1866 in Verhandlungen des naturforschenden Vereins Brünn,^[10] it was seen as essentially about hybridization rather than inheritance and had little impact and was cited about three times over the next thirty-five years. (Notably, Charles Darwin was unaware of Mendel's paper, according to Jacob Bronowski's The Ascent of Man.) His paper was criticized at the time, but is now considered a seminal work.

Life after the pea experiments[link]

After completing his work with peas, Mendel turned to experimenting with honeybees to extend his work to animals. He produced a hybrid strain (so vicious they were destroyed, but failed to generate a clear picture of their heredity because of the difficulties in controlling mating behaviours of queen bees.^{[dubious – discuss]}) He also described novel plant species, and these are denoted with the botanical author abbreviation "Mendel".

After he was elevated as abbot in 1868, his scientific work largely ended, as Mendel became consumed with his increased administrative responsibilities, especially a dispute with the civil government over their attempt to impose special taxes on religious institutions.^[11] Mendel died on January 6, 1884, at age 61, in Brno, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now Czech Republic), from chronic nephritis. Czech composer Leoš Janáček played the organ at his funeral. After his death, the succeeding abbot burned all papers in Mendel's collection, to mark an end to the disputes over taxation.^[12]

Rediscovery of Mendel's work[link]

Dominant and recessive phenotypes. (1) Parental generation. (2) F1 generation. (3) F2 generation.

Mendel's work was rejected at first, and was not widely accepted until after he died. During his own lifetime, most biologists held the idea that all characteristics were passed to the next generation through blending inheritance, in which the traits from each parent are averaged together. Instances of this phenomenon are now explained by the action of multiple genes with quantitative effects. Charles Darwin tried unsuccessfully to explain inheritance through a theory of pangenesis. It was not until the early 20th century that the importance of Mendel's ideas was realized.

By 1900, research aimed at finding a successful theory of discontinuous inheritance rather than blending inheritance led to independent duplication of his work by Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns, and the rediscovery of Mendel's writings and laws. Both acknowledged Mendel's priority, and it is thought probable that de Vries did not understand the results he had found until after reading Mendel.^[3] Though Erich von Tschermak was originally also credited with rediscovery, this is no longer accepted because he did not understand Mendel's laws.^[13] Though de Vries later lost interest in Mendelism, other biologists started to establish genetics as a science.^[3]

Mendel's results were quickly replicated, and genetic linkage quickly worked out. Biologists flocked to the theory; even though it was not yet applicable to many phenomena, it sought to give a genotypic understanding of heredity which they felt was lacking in previous studies of heredity which focused on phenotypic approaches. Most prominent of these latter approaches was the biometric school of Karl Pearson and W.F.R. Weldon, which was based heavily on statistical studies of phenotype variation. The strongest opposition to this school came from William Bateson, who perhaps did the most in the early days of publicising the benefits of Mendel's theory (the word "genetics", and much of the discipline's other terminology, originated with Bateson). This debate between the biometricians and the Mendelians was extremely vigorous in the first two decades of the twentieth century, with the biometricians claiming statistical and mathematical rigor, whereas the Mendelians claimed a better understanding of biology.

In the end, the two approaches were combined, especially by work conducted by R. A. Fisher as early as 1918. The combination, in the 1930s and 1940s, of Mendelian genetics with Darwin's theory of natural selection resulted in the modern synthesis of evolutionary biology.

Controversy[link]

Mendel's experimental results have later been the object of considerable dispute.^[12] Fisher analyzed the results of the F2 (second filial) ratio and found them to be implausibly close to the exact ratio of 3 to 1.^[14] Only a few would accuse Mendel of scientific malpractice or call it a scientific fraud—reproduction of his experiments has demonstrated the validity of his hypothesis—however, the results have continued to be a mystery for many, though it is often cited as an example of confirmation bias. This might arise if he detected an approximate 3 to 1 ratio early in his experiments with a small sample size, and continued collecting more data until the results conformed more nearly to an exact ratio. It is sometimes suggested that he may have censored his results, and that his seven traits each occur on a separate chromosome pair, an extremely unlikely occurrence if they were chosen at random. In fact, the genes Mendel studied occurred in only four linkage groups, and only one gene pair (out of 21 possible) is close enough to show deviation from independent assortment; this is not a pair that Mendel studied. Some recent researchers have suggested that Fisher's criticisms of Mendel's work may have been exaggerated.^[15][16]

Gallery[link]

• 

  Gregor Johann Mendel – memorial plaque on facade of Palacký University Faculty of Philosophy in Olomouc, where Mendel studied in 1840–1843

• 

  Gregor Mendel, frontispiece from "Mendel's principles of heredity: A Defence"

• 

  The Augustinian Abbey of St Thomas, Brno

• 

  Bust of Mendel at Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry Brno, Czech Republic

See also[link]

• List of Roman Catholic cleric–scientists
• Mendel Museum of Genetics
• Mendel Polar Station in Antarctica
• Mendel University Brno
• Mendelian error

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gregor Mendel

• Works by or about Gregor Mendel in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Mendel's Paper in English
• Mendel Museum of Genetics
• Mendel in Darwin's Shadow, by David Allen at Macroevolution.net
• Biography, bibliography and access to digital sources in the Virtual Laboratory of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science
• 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia entry, "Mendel, Mendelism"
• Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man
• Augustinian Abbey of St. Thomas at Brno
• A photographic tour of St. Thomas' Abbey, Brno, Czech Republic
• Johann Gregor Mendel: Why his discoveries were ignored for 35 (72) years (German)
• This has the basics of Mendel and is more appropriate in style for a GCSE student
• Masaryk University to rebuild Mendel’s greenhouse | Brno Now
• "Gregor Mendel (1822–1884)". http://www.accessexcellence.org/RC/AB/BC/Gregor_Mendel.html. Retrieved 2008-01-22. 
• "Biography of Gregor Mendel". Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. http://web.archive.org/web/20080117233318/http://mendel.imp.ac.at/mendeljsp/biography/biography.jsp. Retrieved 2008-01-22. 
• Gregor Mendel Primary Sources

Nathan Gregor "Nate" Mendel (born December 2, 1968) is an American bassist for the bands Foo Fighters, The Jealous Sound, Sunny Day Real Estate, and The Fire Theft.

Biography[link]

He began his musical career in the punk band Diddly Squat, then played in the fairly popular punk bands Christ on a Crutch, Brotherhood (Seattle Straight edge), Galleons Lap. He was a member of Sunny Day Real Estate and Juno before joining the Foo Fighters in 1995 (after Sunny Day Real Estate had disbanded). Although Sunny Day Real Estate reunited for two more albums (How It Feels to Be Something On and The Rising Tide), he stayed with the Foo Fighters. After SDRE disbanded once more, he joined with other Sunny Day Real Estate members Jeremy Enigk and William Goldsmith to form The Fire Theft, who released a self-titled album in 2003.

He scored a role in the indie movie Our Burden Is Light, in which he also played a minor role as the main female character's best friend's boyfriend and bassist. In the movie, Mendel plays in a band named Bleeder, consisting of himself, Jessica Ballard, and Taylor Hawkins.

Nate Mendel joined the Foo Fighters as the bassist, alongside former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. The band has since released eight studio albums and one live album, Mendel continues to play alongside Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, and Pat Smear, who rejoined the band in 2006. Mendel, Grohl and Pat Smear are the original members in the Foo Fighters current line-up.

In June 2009, it was confirmed that Sunny Day Real Estate plans to reunite again, with Mendel back in the fold.^[1][2] The band toured in 2009, confirming a new album in the works..^[3]

Personal life[link]

Nate's oldest ancestor is Gregor Mendel, who discovered genetics.He has one son, Noah, with his former girlfriend. In September 2011 it was reported by Billboard.biz that Mendel was dating Sub Pop publicist and director of marketing, Kate Jackson.^[4] Nate attended Hanford Jr./Sr. High School in Richland, WA. He was an avid skateboarder as well as BMX racer in the Washington St. Region. He also regularly contributes to the official Foo Fighters blog.

Technique[link]

Nate is known to use a pick almost exclusively, however on the "Long Road to Ruin" video he is seen finger-picking, as well as during "Marigold" on the Skin and Bones live release.

Nate is rarely seen singing. However he sang backup with Chris Shiflett on Monkey Wrench at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, Georgia in 2000 while supporting There Is Nothing Left To Lose. He and Shiflett sang the outro backing vocals ("fall in, fall out"). He is also seen doing backing vocals on "I'll Stick Around" at Bizarre Festival in 2000. ^[5]

Equipment[link]

Mendel's main set-up consists of Fender Precision Basses played through Ashdown ABM—and more recently, Classic-Series Bass Amplifiers. He also often uses Lakland Bob Glaub Signature Precision Basses while touring.

He is seen playing the Lakland Bass in the video for "The Pretender". He used a Gibson Ripper bass in the "Best of You" video and in the "Long Road to Ruin" video he is seen playing a Red Fender Jazz Bass with a black pickguard. He also uses a white and pearloid red Fender Jazz Bass in the "Monkey Wrench" video.

His pedalboard is very simple and consists of a Fulltone Bassdrive, Boss GEB-7 Graphic Equalizer, and Boss TU-2 Tuner.

Nate on occasion also plays Gibson Thunderbird Basses.

Nate uses JHAudio JH16 In Ear Monitors.

Connection to AIDS denialist movement[link]

In January 2000, Nate Mendel organized a sold-out concert in Los Angeles to benefit Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, a group which denies that HIV is the cause of AIDS. At the concert, the group's founder, Christine Maggiore, gave a speech attributing AIDS to drug use, stress, and medications, and implying that people should not be tested for HIV, nor should they take antiretroviral treatment if HIV-positive.^[6]

Responding to coverage of the Alive & Well benefit in Mother Jones magazine, Mendel wrote that "...popular ideas about AIDS are based on a hypothesis that does not stand up to scientific scrutiny." He further condemned HIV tests for what he felt was their inaccuracy and HIV medication for its "unproven efficacy and proven toxicity."^[7] None of these statements reflects current mainstream scientific theories.^[8] The Foo Fighters no longer list Alive & Well as a supported charity on their website as of 2008.^{[9][dead link]}

Notes[link]