What was the most significant conclusion that Gregor Mendel drew from his experiments with pea plants?

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Understanding Mendel's pea plant experiments begins with the central idea he proposed: inheritance occurs via discrete units, which he called factors, that are passed to offspring.
Option 1: 'Genes are composed of DNA.' This statement reflects modern molecular genetics, where genes are indeed segments of DNA. However, Mendel conducted his work before the DNA–protein–gene identity was known; thus, attributing his success to DNA composition would be anachronistic and not what Mendel concluded.
Option 2: 'Recessive genes occur more frequently in the F1 generation than do dominant ones.' This misstates Mendel's observations. In the classic monohybrid cross, the F1 generation typically shows only the dominant trait, with recessive traits hidden but not more frequent in F1. Mendel’s key insight was not about comparative frequencies in F1 but about how traits reappear in the F2 generation, demonstrating discrete units.
Option 3: 'There is considerable genetic variation in garden peas.' While there is genetic variation among plants, Mendel’s primary conclusion from his crosses was not a general statement about the amount of variation in peas but about how traits are inherited. This option doesn’t capture the essence of his breakthrough regarding inheritance mechanisms.
Option 4: 'Traits are inherited in discrete units and are not the result of "blending."' This directly articulates Mendel’s fundamental conclusion: traits are passed as separable units (alleles) and do not blend up into a single intermediate form. It contrasts with the blending theory that suggested offspring would be a simple mix of parental traits, which Mendel’s results contradicted by showing reappearance of parental traits in the next generation and ratios that implied distinct units.
In summary, option 4 aligns with Mendel’s foundational inference about discrete, non-blending inheritance, while the other options either reflect later genetic knowledge, misstate Mendel’s observations, or miss the core conclusion about how traits are transmitted across generations.

Bio 93 Section CDE 2025 Final Exam Practice, Part 1

What was the most significant conclusion that Gregor Mendel drew from his experiments with pea plants?

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