What did Mendel's work teach us about the passing of traits from one generation to the next?

• A. Traits are determined by environmental factors alone.
• B. Traits are only passed from the mother to the offspring.
• C. Traits are inherited independently of each other.
• D. Traits are blended together in offspring.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Gregor Mendel's experiments with pea plants laid the foundation for our understanding of genetics. He discovered that traits are inherited according to specific patterns, which he described using the concept of 'factors' now known as genes.
2. Mendel's Law of Segregation states that each organism carries two alleles for each trait, and these alleles separate during gamete formation, ensuring that offspring receive one allele from each parent.
3. Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment explains that genes for different traits are inherited independently of each other, meaning the inheritance of one trait does not affect the inheritance of another.
4. Mendel's work disproved the idea of blending inheritance, which suggested that offspring are a mix of parental traits. Instead, he showed that traits are passed on as discrete units.
5. Through his experiments, Mendel demonstrated that environmental factors do not solely determine traits; rather, genetic inheritance plays a crucial role in the transmission of traits from one generation to the next.