Who is considered the father of heredity?

Gregor Mendel is recognized as the father of heredity because he was the first scientist to formulate the basic principles of heredity through his experiments with pea plants. Mendel’s research in the mid-19th century laid the foundation for genetics by establishing the laws of inheritance, including the concepts of dominant and recessive traits. His meticulous approach and analysis of genetic variation through crossbreeding demonstrated how traits are passed from one generation to the next, making his work groundbreaking in the understanding of biological inheritance.

In contrast, while Charles Darwin contributed significantly to the theory of evolution and the concept of natural selection, he did not specifically address the mechanisms of heredity. Louis Pasteur is best known for his work in microbiology and the development of pasteurization, which are unrelated to genetic inheritance. James Watson is famous for co-discovering the structure of DNA, which is essential to understanding genetics, but his work came much later than Mendel's pioneering studies.