 Prior to Mendel , Imre Festetics , a Hungarian noble , who lived in Kőszeg before Gregor Mendel , was the first who used the word " genetics " . He described several rules of genetic inheritance in his work The genetic law of the Nature ( Die genetische Gesätze der Natur , 1819 ) . His second law is the same as what Mendel published . In his third law , he developed the basic principles of mutation ( he can be considered a forerunner of Hugo de Vries . ) 
