- Gregor Mendel conducted pea plant experiments in the 1850s and 1860s to study inheritance patterns of traits like plant height, seed color, and flower position. - Through his experiments with monohybrid and dihybrid crosses, Mendel discovered that traits are inherited in discrete units (now known as genes) and that these units assort and segregate independently during the formation of gametes. - Mendel's work established the fundamental laws of inheritance and provided the foundation for the modern science of genetics.