Mendelism The theory of heredity that forms the basis of classical genetics, proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1866 and formulated in two laws (see Mendel's laws; particulate inheritance). Mendel suggested that individual characteristics were determined by inherited `factors', and when improved microscopes revealed details of cell structure the behaviour of Mendel's factors could be related to the behaviour of chromosomes during meiosis.

Mendelism the theory of hereditiy as formulated by the Moravian monk Gregor Johann Mendel (1822–84), the father of genetics. From systematically breeding peas he demonstrated the transmission of characteristics in a predictable way by factors (genes) which remain intact and independent between generations and do not blend, though they may mask one another's effects.