Gregor Mendel (1822 – 1884)
Commonly held as the father of modern genetics. An Austrian scientist who found fame postumously in his study of the inheritied characteristics of pea plants.
‘Genetics’ is the study of the science of heredity, that is the characteristics of how things are passed down from parent to child. That covers many different characteristics, both physical and psychological.
Here are some useful resources explaining the basics of genetics:
Medical Genetics taken from The British Society for Human Genetics