An organism’s physical traits, or phenotype, are a product of its genotype, which is the combination of alleles (gene variants) inherited from its parents. To varying degrees, genes interact with each other and environmental factors to generate traits. The distribution of alleles and traits within a population is influenced by a number of factors, including natural selection, migration, and random genetic drift.

In this video, JoVE introduces some of the foundational discoveries in genetics, from Gregor Mendel’s elucidation of the genetic basis of inheritance, to how natural processes affect allele distributions within populations, to the modern synthesis of biology that brought together Mendelian genetics and Darwinian evolution. We then review the questions asked by geneticists today regarding how genes influence traits, and some of the main tools used to answer these questions. Finally, several applications of techniques such as genetic crosses, screens and evolution experiments will be presented.