Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance

1. Genes In Pairs: Genetic characters are controlled by genes that exist in pairs of alleles in individual organisms and are passed from parents to their offspring. When two organisms produce offspring, each parent gives the offspring one of the alleles from each pair.

2. Dominance and Recessiveness: When two unlike alleles responsible for a single character are present in a single individual, one allele can mask the expression of another allele. That is, one allele is dominant to the other. The latter is said to be recessive.

3. The Law of Segregation: During the formation of gametes, the paired alleles separate (segregate) randomly so that each gamete receives one allele or the other.

4. The Law of Independent Assortment: During gamete formation, segregating pairs of alleles assort independently of each other. Example: genes on different chromosomes will segregate independently. Linked genes (close together on one chromosome) do not follow this law.