What are the reasons for the success of Mendel?

Answer: Reasons for Mendel’s success:

1. He studied the inheritance of only one or two characters at a time (monohybrid and dihybrid crosses).
2. He selected seven pairs of clear, contrasting characters, which (as found later) are located on different chromosomes, so they assorted independently.
3. He chose a suitable material, the garden pea, which is annual, has many varieties, is naturally self-pollinating and can easily be cross-pollinated.
4. He used pure-breeding (true-breeding) parents, tested over many generations.
5. He kept accurate records, used large samples and analysed the results statistically.
6. He was careful and lucky in avoiding complications such as linkage and incomplete dominance.