Importance of the study of Mendelian genetics

It is known to many that descendants of any species, both plant and animal, including man, resemble parents. The children have a set of morphological and physiological characteristics that allow us to recognize them as members of a certain species, all this leads us to conclude that there must be a set of specific characteristics that are transmitted hereditarily from parents to children. Due to these traits that are inherited from parents to children it is necessary that there is a discipline in charge of studying these traits, it is from this need that the study of genetics is born, with the aim of studying the material base of the organisms that enable biological inheritance.

Hereditary characters

Once certain characteristics are inherited from father to son, there is a way to identify and classify those hereditary characters, once identified we can differentiate them, among the diversity of these characters we can name the specific characters, that is, those that are peculiar to a certain species, we can also name those that belong only to a specific group within the same species, these are called racial, on the contrary when these characters are specific to a given individual is called individual characters.

Propeller of the genetics study

Wikimedia Commons. Gregor Mendel (1822-1884). This work is in the public domain.

The initiator of the studies on inheritance was Gregorio Mendel. Mendel was the promoter of several cross-linking experiments with individuals belonging to the same species, in these crossings Mendel was specifically focused on the hereditary transmission of a set of racial characters in certain species, such as peas of different varieties and some plants in which the difference it consisted of the presence or absence of pigmentation in its flowers.

Wikimedia Commons. Description of the image: seven phenotypic characters of Mendel. Author: Mariana Ruiz. This work has been released into the public domain.

To carry out the study of the transmission of hereditary characters, Mendel used the method of hybridization, also known as Mendelism, and in my opinion it is logical that Mendel used this technique, since there is no better experiment to study the inheritance than to cross the genes of individuals of the same species that differ in some traits, and that of their descendants are studied and evaluated some of those traits. Mendel chose two pure races, that is to say two races that cross each other give rise to a completely uniform offspring with respect to the character that defines that race. The crossing of races had some difficulties, especially in terms of plants, problems that had to be solved in the laboratory.

Through hybridization, and observing only certain characters, it has been possible to carry out a large number of studies; among them it is worth mentioning those made using the fly of the vinegar Drosophila melanogaster, which has good conditions due to the great ease with which it can be bred, its considerable reproductive power, since at room temperature a generation can be achieved in just under two weeks, and the large size of its four chromosomes.

Mendel, as expected, not only focused his work on hybridization, that is, he not only made crosses in purebred individuals, he also took part in experiments where he crossed individuals of pure race but that differ in a hereditary character, such as: length of the wings, color of the seed, among others. This type of crossing I call Mendel monohibridismo.

Wikimedia Commons. Author of the image: Alejandro Porto. Image description: Scheme of a Mendelian monohybrid crossing. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

Importance of the evolution that genetics may have in the agricultural production apparatus

In my capacity as Administrator of Agricultural Enterprises, I consider myself in the obligation of possessing the necessary knowledge to be able to administer the resources of agricultural enterprise (what is known in my country Venezuela as Treasury), the administration of this type of resources also implies the of being able to be related to all those technological and academic elements that allow to elevate the production of agricultural and livestock items of certain companies. That is why by doing a little more research with my colleagues, the Engineers in Agricultural Production, we came to deal with the issue of genetics and breed improvement through crosses.

One way to increase the production of beef, cattle and swine is to have an improvement in the genetic crossings of these animals, since with the improvement in the crosses not only could increase the production of meat but obtain good quality meat. The same happens with agricultural production, we can obtain good and better specimens of corn plants, cassava, potatoes, tomatoes, paprika, chili, rice, soy, onion, banana among others, if we successfully cross the genes of these individuals.

The moral of the case is that the Mendelian genetics left us a series of experiments and learnings in the experimental on crosses, which served as the basis to be able to base a set of laws that are the arguments that govern the current conditions of modern genetics. We only have as proponents of the engineering and administration of agricultural production raise all knowledge, about genetics and crosses for the benefit of humanity, especially in these difficult times where famine strikes our peoples.

Source consulted

• Natural Sciences. Rita Bonnat. Editions Nauta C., S.A. Spain 1995.