Genetic Inheritance: Mendel's Laws Explained

Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment

Mendel's law of independent assortment states that each character behaves as a separate unit and is inherited independently of any other character. During gamete formation, the alleles for each gene separate from each other so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene. This means that the inheritance of one trait does not affect the inheritance of another trait.

This law perfectly explains why offspring can inherit different combinations of traits from their parents, as the genes for different traits are passed down independently of each other.

Mendel's Law of Segregation

Mendel's law of segregation states that during gamete formation, the alleles for each gene segregate (separate) from each other so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene. This means that offspring inherit one allele from each parent for each gene.

According to this law, the alleles for a trait separate during gamete formation and are randomly paired during fertilization, resulting in offspring with a combination of alleles from both parents.

Therefore, the main difference between Mendel's law of independent assortment and Mendel's law of segregation is that the former explains how different traits are inherited independently of each other, while the latter explains how alleles for a single trait segregate during gamete formation.