 Modern genetics started with Gregor Johann Mendel , a scientist and Augustinian friar who studied the nature of inheritance in plants . In his paper " <unk> über <unk> " ( " Experiments on Plant Hybridization " ) , presented in 1865 to the <unk> Verein ( Society for Research in Nature ) in <unk> , Mendel traced the inheritance patterns of certain traits in pea plants and described them mathematically . Although this pattern of inheritance could only be observed for a few traits , Mendel 's work suggested that heredity was particulate , not acquired , and that the inheritance patterns of many traits could be explained through simple rules and ratios . 
