Gregor Mendel is considered the "father of genetics" in modern science. Johann Mendel (his birth name) graduated from the Philosophical Institute at the University of Olmütz in 1843. Then he decided to become a monk, joining the Augustinian order at the St. Thomas Monastery in Brno (in the Austrian empire). As a monk, he was given the name Gregor. He continued his studies in the sciences at the University of Vienna, his studies funded by the monastery. Around 1854, Mendel began experimenting with plants in the monastery's garden, especially exploring the transmission of hereditary traits in plant hybrids. From his experiments with pea plants, he proposed basic laws of genetics such as the Law of Segregation (that there are dominant and recessive traits which are passed on from parent to offspring), and the Law of Independent Assortment (that individual traits were transmitted from parent to offspring independently of other traits).</span>
