Question

What did Mendel's cross-pollination of pea plants prove?


A. Inherited factors combine in offspring to create entirely new characteristics.


B. Each parent only passes on one-half of its hereditary factors to each offspring.


C. There is no such thing as a true-breeding plant; they all have hidden factors.


D. It takes four generations of offspring to identify the parents' factors.

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Each parent only passes on one-half of its hereditary factors to each offspring.

Explanation:

Pea plants have both male and female reproductive organs.  As a result, they can either self-pollinate themselves or cross-pollinate with another plant.  In Mendel's experiments, he was able to cross-pollinate purebred plants with particular traits and observe the outcome over many generations.  

As a little fun fact; as we know, both human parents have 46 chromosomes, and when reproduction occurs, they both give half of their chromosomes (23) to their offspring!

Answer 2

B. Each parent only passé down one half it’s hereditary factors to offspring