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Maria Rojas

February 26, 2012

The Heroic Narrative in Science: Gregor Mendel

In “Philosophically Correct Science Stories? Examining the Implications of Heroic

Science Stories for School Science,” Catherine Milne describes three types of scientific heroes.

The first type of scientist is an experimenter who presents his work with caution and is humble

about his own achievements. The second type is well connected and has influence within his

disciplinary field. Lastly, the third type of hero is one that “listen[s] to the material” and develops

a “feeling for the organism” (Milne, pg. 182). According to these descriptions, Gregor Mendel

seems to fall within the third category.

Born in 1822 to a peasant parents, young Gregor Mendel was an unlikely candidate to

become the famous and heroic scientist he is know for today. Since early childhood, his parents

had difficulties with providing him with education (obviously he is not the second type of

scientist). Nevertheless, Mendel, as good heroic scientist, had an inner calling for learning.

Although he met with economic hardships at first, he became a monk at the Brunn Monastery,

escaping from poverty while gaining education. As he himself put it, “His circumstances decided

his vocational choice” (“Gregor Mendel’s Autobiography,” pg. 234). While at the Brunn

Monastery, he began to develop a special interest in the natural science. This developed interest

became stronger as he went to the University of Vienna. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately,

Mendel failed to pass his teacher’s examinations at Vienna, forcing him into going back to the

monastery, were he begins to experiment with pea plants.

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During 1856-1865, Mendel becomes quite obsessed with artificial pollination and

selective breeding with Pisum sativum, growing thousands of plants to closely examine the

outcomes (which we now know as heredity). As he began his work, he did not know exactly

what to expect. Yet, he did notice that there was a strange pattern going on and was curious to

find out what is causing it. After years of deep analysis, he listened to what nature had to tell him

through statistics, and finally discovered the nature of genetics. He distinguished the ratio of

dominant against recessive genes (3:1 respectively), and established the law of Segregation of

Characteristics and law of Independent Assortment. In other words, it is the brilliant moment that

Gregor Mendel achieved his status as a heroic scientist: he became the Father of Modern

Genetics. Unlike the first type of heroic scientist, soon after his discovery, Mendel became eager

about his work and wanted to present it to the rest of the scientific community. He reported his

experiments to the Brunn Natural Science Society and soon afterwards published Experiment in

Plant Hybridization. Unfortunately, he was thirty years ahead of his contemporaries, thus his

work was not well received. It was not until 1900, when the significance of genetics and heredity

were acknowledged.

Although Gregor Mendel’s discovery in itself does not seem to propose a deep or

complex social message (it just explains the observations we have noticed for centuries), the

expansion of modern genetics does. Not only do we understand the significance of genetics, but

our modern technology has enabled us to do things that were unthinkable back then! The Human

Genome Project has been conducted, we know that we have over 3 billion pairs of nucleotides

bases, and we can even predict inherited abnormalities and diseases! Yet the problem is, or

ethical question is, should we know all this? And if we do, should we manipulate it?

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Such questions are presented in Mendel’s Dwarf, were the protagonist, the dwarf

geneticist Benedict Lambert, is struggling with the ethics of his profession. Due to his

abnormality, he has lived a hard life, desperately searching for someone who would care for him.

When he finally does (sort of), the love of his life, Jean, proposes to have a child—not like him.

He is well aware that it is the only opportunity he’ll ever have to continue his lineage, to pass on

his genes, AND that he can choose them. Thus, this presents an internal-conflict, for he has three

options: 1) choose a normal child, 2) choose a dwarf child, or 3) let chance decide. All of these

options are conflicting in their own way because on one hand, if Benedict chooses a dwarf child,

he is accepting his own reality, yet the child will be prone to live his own hardships. On the other

hand, if he choses a normal child, the child will be spared from a difficult life.

Although this book is centered on the main character, its ethical issues could be applied

to society overall. The ability of genetic testing and selection can be very beneficial, but also

troubling. We can predict and prevent diseases, but also become obsessed with creating “perfect”

children. Hence, the question of whether modern genetics are really ethical is still up to debate!

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Works Cited

“Gregor Mendel’s Autobiography.” Journal of Heredity 45.5 (1954): 231-234.

Mawer, Simon. Mendel’s Dwarf. New York: Penguin Books, 1999. Print.

Milne, Catherine. “Philosophically Correct Science Stories? Examining the Implications of

Heroic Science Stories for School Science.” Journal of Research in Science Teaching

35.2 (1998): 175-187. Web. 27 Feb 2010.