Who is known as the father of modern genetics?

Gregor Mendel is known as the father of modern genetics due to his foundational work in understanding heredity through systematic experiments with pea plants. Mendel established key concepts such as the principles of segregation and independent assortment, which describe how traits are inherited from one generation to the next. His meticulous crossing experiments led to the formulation of certain ratios that predict the outcome of genetic crosses, laying the groundwork for the laws of inheritance.

Mendel's work, although not recognized during his lifetime, became pivotal in the early 20th century as scientists began to understand the mechanisms of heredity, ultimately leading to the establishment of genetics as a scientific discipline. His use of mathematical ratios to describe inheritance patterns is what truly distinguished his work, allowing future generations of geneticists to build upon his discoveries.

In contrast, other figures like Darwin focused primarily on evolution and natural selection, while Pasteur contributed significantly to microbiology and the study of diseases. Watson, along with Crick, worked on discovering the structure of DNA, which is essential to genetics, but did not lay the foundational principles that Mendel did.