Mendel's Genetic Laws Challenged by New Findings

By Mendel's law of inheritance if both parents have two copies of a gene responsible for a particular trait the offspring should exhibit the trait. Purdue University researchers recently observed an exception to the rule in a mutant form of Arabidopsis. Ten percent of the offspring of plants, known to have two genes for a mutation called hothead, exhibited the normal form of their grandparents even though it did not show up in their genetic makeup.

The team investigating the phenomenon does not know what underlying mechanism allows the plants to defy their genes and revert to the traits of the grandparents. Experiments were conducted with careful controls and markers were used to verify the genetic makeup of the parents. If this process occurs in other organisms, its study could lead to treatments for conditions caused by genetic mutations.

Link: Plants Defy Mendel's Inheritance Laws, May Prompt Textbook Changes from Purdue University News

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:04 PM on April 11, 2005