DEVELOPMENT OF GENETICS-A HISTORICAL PERSPECT

As systematic study of genetics began, answers were sought to questions such as

i) why are we like our parents?

ii) why do organisms belonging to a group have an astonishing similarity to each other?

The first geneticists were the persons who observed that "like begets like" and then used this basic observation to improve their strains. Domestication of animals like dogs, cats and cattle, was started when huma& learned how to control the matings of these species. Once animals were tamed, people could breed more of those which they found most useful and the control of lineage remained with humans. Cultivation of crops required that seeds of one generation were saved to produce the next generation. Therefore, the seeds that were saved were from the largest and the healthiest plants.

Next, scientists started seeking answers to the question as to why we are like our parents but are also different from them in many respects. It was only after the work of Mendel was published in 1860s that. answers to these questions started to emerge.