Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and scientist, is best known for his groundbreaking work in discovering the laws of heredity through his experiments with pea plants.

In the mid–19^th century, Mendel conducted a series of experiments that revealed how traits are passed from one generation to the next. He identified patterns of inheritance and formulated what are now known as Mendel’s Laws: The Law of Segregation and the Law of Independent Assortment. Through crossbreeding, Medel observed that traits are inherited as discrete units, now called genes, and that these traits do not blend but rather segregate during the formation of gametes.

Mendel's work, although initially overlooked, laid the foundation for modern genetics, fundamentally altering our understanding of biological inheritance.