Unearthing the Father of Genetics - A Scientific Analysis of Gregor Mendel's DNA

Summary: In 2022, a team of scientists in the Czech Republic exhumed the body of Gregor Mendel, considered the "father of genetics," and sequenced his DNA to celebrate his 200th birthday. Mendel, a scientist and friar, conducted experiments in the mid-1800s that laid the foundation for modern genetics. The team obtained permission from Mendel's religious order, the Augustinians, and were able to confirm his identity through analysis of his personal possessions and newspapers found in his coffin. The results of the genetic testing may offer new insights into Mendel's life and work.

n 2022, the bicentennial of Gregor Mendel's birth, a team of scientists in the Czech Republic decided to celebrate the "father of genetics" in a unique way: by digging up his body and sequencing his DNA.

Mendel, a scientist and friar, conducted experiments in the mid-1800s that laid the foundation for modern genetics. He lived and worked in Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic, and remains a hometown hero there.

Astronomer Jiří Dušek, director of the Brno Observatory and Planetarium, was the one who suggested to analyze Mendel's genes. "So that was the beginning," says Šárka Pospíšilová, a geneticist and vice rector for research at Masaryk University in Brno.

At first, the idea of analyzing Mendel's genes seemed "crazy", but Pospíšilová went around to different specialists at the university to ask what might be possible. After consulting with anthropologists and archaeologists, it became clear that exhuming Mendel from his grave in Brno and running genetic tests on his remains was a doable project.

The team obtained permission from the Augustinians, Mendel's religious order, and began the process of exhuming his body. They found five coffins stacked one on top of the other in the Augustinian tomb in the city's central cemetery. The metal coffin at the bottom was lined with newspapers dated shortly before Mendel's death, which confirmed that it was his coffin.

Filip Pardy, a molecular biologist on the research team, felt a heavy sense of responsibility in being part of this effort. "Gregor Mendel is a person that is taught at the first course of genetics at the university," says Pardy. "Everybody feels that he's very important, especially here in Brno. He's kind of a role model... who stood at the beginning of everything we do."

Mendel was ahead of his time in the way he used math to study patterns of inheritance in pea plants when looking at things like flower color and plant height, says Pardy. He analyzed a set of about 25,000 plants to create the formulas that are still used in genetics today.

The genetic testing of Mendel's remains may offer new insights into his life and work, and will undoubtedly be a unique way to celebrate and honor his contributions to the field of genetics. The results of the genetic testing have not been made public yet, but it will be interesting to see what they reveal about the man who is considered the "father of genetics."

source: "Why scientists dug up the father of genetics, Gregor Mendel, and analyzed his DNA" - NPR

These are some references that can provide more information about Mendel's life, work and the context in which he conducted his experiments, but there are many others available in different languages and formats.