Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk who studied inheritance through pea plant experiments in his garden. He discovered the basic rules of genetics, including his laws of inheritance. Mendel studied seven traits in pea plants including plant height, flower position, and seed color. He used purebred plants to ensure each parent had the desired trait. Mendel's laws state that factors separate during meiosis and each offspring receives one factor from each parent which are passed on independently. Other forms of inheritance include incomplete dominance, codominance, sex-linked traits, and polygenic traits influenced by multiple genes. Mutations can also result in genetic disorders being passed down. Pedigrees are used to track the inheritance of traits through generations