The selective breeding of organisms in order to produce an offspring with the desired trait is known as artificial selection.
The concept of artificial selection helped in both Mendel's and Darwin's ideas as follows :
Darwin's study of artificial selection helped in the development of the theory of natural selection. Darwin reasoned that If through artificial selection variation in individuals can be seen in a few hundred generations, then nature can also over a longer timescale give rise to the diverse life forms.
Mendel, on the other hand, took advantage of artificial selection and selectively bred plants to generate pure breeding lines to carry forward his studies.
