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Mendel’s 3 Laws (Segregation, Independent Assortment, Dominance)

• In the 1860s, an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel introduced a new theory of inheritance based on his experimental work with pea plants.
• Mendel believed that heredity is the result of discrete units of inheritance, and every single unit (or gene) was independent in its actions in an individual’s genome.
• According to this Mendelian concept, the inheritance of a trait depended on the passing-on of these units.
• For any given trait, an individual inherits one gene from each parent so that the individual has a pairing of two genes. We now understand the alternate forms of these units as ‘alleles’.
• If the two alleles that form the pair for a trait are identical, then the individual is said to be homozygous and if the two genes are different, then the individual is heterozygous for the trait.
• The breeding experiments of the monk in the mid‐1800s laid the groundwork for the science of genetics.
• He studied peas plant for 7 years and published his results in 1866 which was ignored until 1900 when three separate botanists, who also were theorizing about heredity in plants, independently cited the work.
• In appreciation of his work he was considered as the “Father of Genetics”.
• A new stream of genetics was established after his name as Mendelian genetics which involves the study of heredity of both qualitative (monogenic) and quantitative (polygenic) traits and the influence of environment on their expressions.
• Mendelian inheritance while is a type of biological inheritance that follows the laws originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866 and re-discovered in 1900.

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Mendel’s Experiment

Mendel carried out breeding experiments in his monastery’s garden to test inheritance patterns. He selectively cross-bred common pea plants ( Pisum sativum ) with selected traits over several generations.  After crossing two plants which differed in a single trait (tall stems vs. short stems, round peas vs. wrinkled peas, purple flowers vs. white flowers, etc), Mendel discovered that the next generation, the “F1” (first filial generation), was comprised entirely of individuals exhibiting only one of the traits.  However, when this generation was interbred, its offspring, the “F2” (second filial generation), showed a 3:1 ratio- three individuals had the same trait as one parent and one individual had the other parent’s trait.

Mendel’s Laws

I. Mendel’s Law of Segregation of genes (the “First Law”)

Image Source:  Encyclopædia Britannica .

• The Law of Segregation states that every individual organism contains two alleles for each trait, and that these alleles segregate (separate) during meiosis such that each gamete contains only one of the alleles.
• An offspring thus receives a pair of alleles for a trait by inheriting homologous chromosomes from the parent organisms: one allele for each trait from each parent.
• Hence, according to the law, two members of a gene pair segregate from each other during meiosis; each gamete has an equal probability of obtaining either member of the gene.

II. Mendel’s Law of Independent Assortment (the “Second Law”)

• Mendel’s second law. The law of independent assortment; unlinked or distantly linked segregating genes pairs behave independently.
• The Law of Independent Assortment states that alleles for separate traits are passed independently of one another.
• That is, the biological selection of an allele for one trait has nothing to do with the selection of an allele for any other trait.
• Mendel found support for this law in his dihybrid cross experiments. In his monohybrid crosses, an idealized 3:1 ratio between dominant and recessive phenotypes resulted. In dihybrid crosses, however, he found a 9:3:3:1 ratios.
• This shows that each of the two alleles is inherited independently from the other, with a 3:1 phenotypic ratio for each.

III. Mendel’s Law of Dominance (the “Third Law”)

• The genotype of an individual is made up of the many alleles it possesses.
• An individual’s physical appearance, or phenotype, is determined by its alleles as well as by its environment.
• The presence of an allele does not mean that the trait will be expressed in the individual that possesses it.
• If the two alleles of an inherited pair differ (the heterozygous condition), then one determines the organism’s appearance and is called the dominant allele; the other has no noticeable effect on the organism’s appearance and is called the recessive allele.
• Thus, the dominant allele will hide the phenotypic effects of the recessive allele.
• This is known as the Law of Dominance but it is not a transmission law: it concerns the expression of the genotype.
• The upper case letters are used to represent dominant alleles whereas the lowercase letters are used to represent recessive alleles.
• Verma, P. S., & Agrawal, V. K. (2006). Cell Biology, Genetics, Molecular Biology, Evolution & Ecology (1 ed.). S .Chand and company Ltd.
• Gardner, E. J., Simmons, M. J., & Snustad, D. P. (1991). Principles of genetics. New York: J. Wiley.
• https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/biology/plant-biology/genetics/mendelian-genetics
• http://kmbiology.weebly.com/mendel-and-genetics—notes.html
• http://knowgenetics.org/mendelian-genetics/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mendelian_inheritance
• https://www.acpsd.net/site/handlers/filedownload.ashx?moduleinstanceid=40851&dataid=33888&FileName=Mendelian%20Genetics.pdf

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Sagar Aryal

2 thoughts on “Mendel’s 3 Laws (Segregation, Independent Assortment, Dominance)”

Good to know when one works with plants like me.

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Mendel’s Law of Segregation

Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics, put forward the laws that govern inheritance. He crossed two plants, each having two different alleles for a particular gene (heterozygous). He found that the traits in the offspring did not always match the traits of the parent plants.

From this result, Mendel put forward three laws of inheritance that could define the pattern of inheritance not only in pea plants but also in other organisms. They are the Law of Dominance, Law of Segregation, and Law of Independent Assortment.

Here, we will study the Law of Segregation in detail. The segregation law is also known as Mendel’s First Law of Genetics.

Law of Segregation

The law states that during the formation of a gamete, each gene separates from the other such that each gamete carries one allele for each gene. Thus, according to the law of segregation, the allocation of the gene copies is random.

When an egg and a sperm cell unite during fertilization, they form a new individual whose genotype consists of alleles in the gametes. 

Basis of Segregation

The principle of segregation depends on four critical conclusions of Mendel:

• A gene can have more than one form or allele
• Offspring inherit two alleles for each trait or character
• When gametes are produced, allele pairs separate, leaving each cell with a single allele for each trait
• When the two allele pairs are different, one is dominant, and the other is recessive

Let us consider Mendel’s experiment with pea plants to reach his conclusion.

Law of Segregation Example

In pea plants, the gene for seed color exists in two forms (alleles). One of the alleles codes for yellow seed color (Y), whereas the other for green seed color (y). The allele for the yellow seed color is dominant over the green seed color, which is recessive.

As we know from Mendel’s monohybrid and dihybrid cross , when the alleles of a pair are different ( heterozygous ), the dominant trait is expressed, while the recessive trait is masked. The steps of the experiment are:

• In the parental generation, Mendel crossed a homozygous, dominant pea plant for yellow seed color (YY) with a homozygous, recessive pea plant for green seed color (yy).
• Each of the parents produces only one kind of gamete, Y from the YY allele and y from the yy allele.
• All the F1 generation offspring are heterozygous, with alleles having genotype Yy. Thus, phenotypically they all express the dominant trait that is yellow.
• The heterozygous F1 offspring produces two kinds of gametes, Y and y.
• Self- pollination of the F1 offspring produces the F2 generation offspring that are phenotypically in the ratio of 3:1. That is, three of the offspring develop the dominant yellow seed color. At the same time, the remaining shows the green seed color. This result is shown using a Punnett square.

In a Punnett square, all possible gametes from the two parents are arranged, one on the top, the other on the side. After self-fertilization, the same plant is both the parents. All the combinations are then written in the boxes, representing fertilization for making new individuals.

By studying the genotype and phenotype of the F2 offspring, Mendel found that seeds with the  genotype  of YY or Yy are yellow. In contrast, seeds with genotype yy are green.

The above experiment proves the law of segregation proposed by Mendel. The gametes formed during the parental (step 2) and F1 generation (step 4) carry only one allele for each gene. Furthermore, the outcome of the cross shows that both the parental alleles for the gene for seed color in pea plants have segregated into separate daughter cells or gametes.

Q.1.Which scenario breaks the law of segregation?

Ans . The scenario that breaks the law of segregation is when a gamete produced has two identical alleles after the second round of meiosis .

• What Is Mendel’s Law of Segregation? – Thoughtco.com
• Principle of Segregation – Nature.com
• Mendelian Genetics – Ndsu.edu
• Mendel’s Law of Segregation – Bio.libretexts.org

Article was last reviewed on Friday, February 17, 2023

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• Laws of Inheritance

Gregor Johann Mendel was a scientist who is recognized as the Father and Founder of genetics . Mendel conducted many experiments on the pea plant (Pisum sativum) between 1856 and 1863. He studied the results of the experiments and deducted many observations. Thus, laws of inheritance or Mendel’s laws of inheritance came into existence. Before learning about Mendel’s laws of inheritance, it is important to understand what the experiments performed by Mendel were.

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Mendel’s Experiments on Pea Plant

Mendel after carefully study selected the pea plant for many reasons:

• The pea plants were easy to grow and maintain
• It has many clearly distinct and contrasting characters.
• The pea plant is an annual plant and so many generations of the plant can be studied in a short period of time.
• Peas are naturally self-pollinating but can also be cross-pollinated.

Mendel made a list of contrasting characters which he studied:

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Mendel structured his experiments in a way that he would observe one pair of contrasting characters at one time. He began his experiments using purebred lines for contrasting characters.

He cross-pollinated two pure lines for contrasting characters and the resultant offsprings were called F1 generation(also called the first filial generation). The F1 generations were then self-pollinated which gave rise to the F2 generation of second filial generation.

Browse more Topics under Principles Of Inheritance And Variations

• Introduction to Genetics
• Linkage and Recombination
• Mutation and Chromosomal Disorder
• Sex Determination

Understand the concept of Genetics here in detail .

Results of Mendel’s Experiments

Let us look at the results of Mendel’s experiments on crossing a pure tall pea plant with a pure short pea plant.

• In the F1 generation, Mendel observed that all plants were tall. there were no dwarf plants.
• In the F2 generation, Mendel observed that 3 of the offsprings were tall whereas 1 was dwarf.
• Similar results were found when Mendel studied other characters.
• Mendel observed that in the F1 generation, the characters of only one parent appeared whereas, in the F2 generation, the characters of the other parent also appeared.
• The characters that appear in the F1 generation are called dominant traits and those that appear for the first time in the F2 generation are called recessive traits.

Learn more about Linkage and Recombination here in detail

Conclusions

• The genes that are passed from the parents to the offsprings exist in pairs. These pairs are called alleles.
• When the two alleles are the same, they are called homozygous. When both the alleles are different, they are called as heterozygous.
• Dominant characters are described using capital letters and recessive using small letters. For example, the dominant genes for tallness in a pea plant are written as TT and recessive genes as tt. The heterozygous genes are written as Tt where the plant appears tall has the recessive gene which might express itself in the future generations.
• The appearance of the plant is known as the phenotype whereas the genetic makeup of the plant is called the genotype. So, a plant with Tt genes appears tall phenotypically but has a recessive gene.
• During gametogenesis, when the chromosomes become half in the gametes, there is a 50% chance of either of the alleles to fuse with that of the other parent to form a zygote.

Understand the concept of Sex Determination here in detail.

Based on these observations, Mendel proposed three laws.

Mendel proposed three laws:

Law of Dominance

• The Law of Segregation
• Law of independent assortment

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This law states that in a heterozygous condition , the allele whose characters are expressed over the other allele is called the dominant allele and the characters of this dominant allele are called dominant characters. The characters that appear in the F1 generation are called as dominant characters. The recessive characters appear in the F2 generation.

Law of Segregation

Image source: wikipedia

This law states that when two traits come together in one hybrid pair, the two characters do not mix with each other and are independent of each other. Each gamete receives one of the two alleles during meiosis of the chromosome.

Mendel’s law of segregations supports the phenotypic ratio of 3:1 i.e. the homozygous dominant and heterozygous offsprings show dominant traits while the homozygous recessive shows the recessive trait .

Law of Independent Assortment

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This means that at the time of gamete formation , the two genes segregate independently of each other as well as of other traits. Law of independent assortment emphasizes that there are separate genes for separate traits and characters and they influence and sort themselves independently of the other genes.

This law also says that at the time of gamete and zygote formation, the genes are independently passed on from the parents to the offspring.

Solved Example for You

Q1: What is the genotype of an individual?

• Physical appearance
• Genetic makeup
• Nature of the individual
• Blended characteristics of the individual

Sol. The correct answer is the option ”b”.  The genetic makeup of the individual is known as the genotype whereas the physical appearance of the individual is known as the phenotype.

FAQ’s for You

Q1. State the three Mendel’s laws of inheritance

Answer:  Mendel’s Laws of inheritance can be described as; 1. The Law of Dominance: The offspring always exhibits a dominant trait. From the two alleles received from parents, the only dominant allele is expressed. 2. The Law of Segregation: The two copies of each chromosome will be separated from each other, causing the two distinct alleles located on those chromosomes to segregate from one another. 3. The Law of Independent Assortment: The traits inherited through one gene will be inherited independently of the traits inherited through another gene because the genes reside on different chromosomes that are independently assorted into daughter cells during meiosis.

Q2. Enlist Mendel’s law of Inheritance.

Answer:  Mendelian inheritance is a type of biological inheritance that follows the laws originally proposed by Gregor Mendel in 1865 and 1866 and re-discovered in 1900. Between 1856 and 1863, Mendel cultivated and tested some 5,000 pea plants. From these experiments, he induced two generalizations which later became known as Mendel’s Principles of Heredity or Mendelian inheritance. Mendel discovered that, when he crossed purebred white flower and purple flower pea plants (the parental or P generation), the result was not a blend. Rather than being a mix of the two, the offspring (known as the F1 generation) was purple-flowered. When Mendel self-fertilized the F1 generation pea plants, he obtained a purple flower to white flower ratio in the F2 generation of 3 to 1. Mendel’s law of inheritance are as follows: Law of segregation: During gamete formation, the alleles for each gene segregate from each other so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene. Law of independent assortment: Genes for different traits can segregate independently during the formation of gametes. Law of dominance: Some alleles are dominant while others are recessive; an organism with at least one dominant allele will display the effect of the dominant allele.

Q3. Short / Long answer type questions. Discuss Mendels laws of inheritance. Which one of these laws you consider the most important and why?

Answer:  Mendel during his study on pea plants stated three laws of inheritance. These were: 1. Law of dominance: A dominant gene will express itself over the recessive gene. 2. Law of segregation: Parental genes are randomly separated to the germ cells such that each germ cell receives only one gene from each pair. 3. Law of independent assortment: Genes for different traits are sorted separately from one another such that the inheritance of one trait is not dependent on the inheritance of the other trait. Out of these three laws, the law of segregation is the most important law because it has no exceptions and is universally accepted.

Q4. Mendel’s law of inheritance composed of?

Answer:  Mendel proposed the law of inheritance of traits from the first generation to the next generation. Law of inheritance is made up of three laws: Law of segregation, law of independent assortment and law of dominance.

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Genes, Traits and Mendel's Law of Segregation

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How are traits passed from parents to offspring? The answer is by gene transmission. Genes are located on  chromosomes  and consist of  DNA . These are  passed from parents to their offspring  through  reproduction .

The principles that govern heredity were discovered by a monk named Gregor Mendel in the 1860s. One of these principles is now called Mendel's law of segregation , which states that allele pairs separate or segregate during gamete formation, and randomly unite at fertilization.

There are four main concepts related to this principle:

• A gene can exist in more than one form or allele.
• Organisms inherit two alleles for each trait.
• When sex cells are produced by meiosis, allele pairs separate leaving each  cell  with a single allele for each trait.
• When the two alleles of a pair are different, one is dominant and the other is recessive.

Mendel's Experiments With Pea Plants

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Mendel worked with pea plants and selected seven traits to study that each occurred in two different forms. For instance, one trait he studied was pod color; some pea plants have green pods and others have yellow pods. 

Since pea plants are capable of self-fertilization, Mendel was able to produce  true-breeding  plants. A true-breeding yellow-pod plant, for example, would only produce yellow-pod offspring. 

Mendel then began to experiment to find out what would happen if he cross-pollinated a true-breeding yellow pod plant with a true-breeding green pod plant. He referred to the two parental plants as the parental generation (P generation) and the resulting offspring were called the first filial or F1 generation.

When Mendel performed cross-pollination between a true-breeding yellow pod plant and a true-breeding green pod plant, he noticed that all of the resulting offspring, the F1 generation, were green.

The F2 Generation

Mendel then allowed all of the green F1 plants to self-pollinate. He referred to these offspring as the F2 generation.

Mendel noticed a 3:1  ratio in pod color. About 3/4  of the F2 plants had green pods and about  1/4  had yellow pods. From these experiments, Mendel formulated what is now known as Mendel's law of segregation.

The Four Concepts in the Law of Segregation

As mentioned, Mendel's law of segregation states that allele pairs separate or segregate during gamete formation, and randomly unite at fertilization . While we briefly mentioned the four primary concepts involved in this idea, let's explore them in greater detail.

#1: A Gene Can Have Multiple Forms

A gene can exist in more than one form. For example, the gene that determines pod color can either be (G) for green pod color or (g) for yellow pod color.

#2: Organisms Inherit Two Alleles for Each Trait

For each characteristic or trait, organisms inherit two alternative forms of that gene, one from each parent. These alternative forms of a gene are called alleles .

The F1 plants in Mendel's experiment each received one allele from the green pod parent plant and one allele from the yellow pod parent plant. True-breeding green pod plants have (GG) alleles for pod color, true-breeding yellow pod plants have (gg) alleles, and the resulting F1 plants have (Gg) alleles.

The Law of Segregation Concepts Continued

#3: allele pairs can separate into single alleles.

When gametes (sex cells) are produced, allele pairs separate or segregate leaving them with a single allele for each trait. This means that sex cells  contain only half the complement of genes. When gametes join during fertilization the resulting offspring contain two sets of alleles, one set of alleles from each parent.

For example, the sex cell for the green pod plant had a single (G) allele and the sex cell for the yellow pod plant had a single (g) allele. After fertilization, the resulting F1 plants had two alleles (Gg) .

#4: The Different Alleles in a Pair Are Either Dominant or Recessive

When the two alleles of a pair are different, one is dominant and the other is recessive. This means that one trait is expressed or shown, while the other is hidden. This is known as complete dominance.

For example, the F1 plants (Gg) were all green because the allele for green pod color (G) was dominant over the allele for yellow pod color (g) . When the F1 plants were allowed to self-pollinate, 1/4 of the F2 generation plant pods were yellow. This trait had been masked because it is recessive. The alleles for green pod color are (GG) and (Gg) . The alleles for yellow pod color are (gg) .

Genotype and Phenotype

From Mendel's law of segregation, we see that the alleles for a trait separate when gametes are formed (through a type of cell division called meiosis ). These allele pairs are then randomly united at fertilization. If a pair of alleles for a trait are the same, they are called homozygous . If they are different, they are  heterozygous .

The F1 generation plants (Figure A) are all heterozygous for the pod color trait. Their genetic makeup or genotype is (Gg) . Their phenotype  (expressed physical trait) is green pod color.

The F2 generation pea plants show two different phenotypes (green or yellow) and three different genotypes (GG, Gg, or gg) . The genotype determines which phenotype is expressed.

The F2 plants that have a genotype of either (GG) or (Gg) are green. The F2 plants that have a genotype of (gg) are yellow. The phenotypic ratio that Mendel observed was 3:1 (3/4 green plants to 1/4 yellow plants). The genotypic ratio, however, was 1:2:1 . The genotypes for the F2 plants were 1/4 homozygous (GG) , 2/4 heterozygous (Gg) , and 1/4 homozygous (gg) .

Key Takeaways

• In the 1860s, a monk named Gregor Mendel, discovered principles of heredity described by Mendel's Law of Segregation.
• Mendel used pea plants for his experiments as they have traits that occur in two distinct forms. He studied seven of these traits, like pod color, in his experiments.
• We now know that genes can exist in more than one form or allele and that progeny inherit two sets of alleles, one set from each parent, for each distinct trait.
• In an allele pair, when each allele is different, one is dominant while the other is recessive.
• Reece, Jane B., and Neil A. Campbell. Campbell Biology . Benjamin Cummings, 2011.
• Introduction to Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment
• Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment
• Gene Theory
• Heterozygous Traits
• Genetics Basics
• Genes and Genetic Inheritance
• True-Breeding Plants
• How Do Alleles Determine Traits in Genetics?
• What Is Pleiotropy? Definition and Examples
• What Is Mendel's Law of Segregation?
• Incomplete Dominance in Genetics
• Dihybrid Cross in Genetics
• Types of Non-Mendelian Genetics
• Polygenic Inheritance of Traits Like Eye Color and Skin Color
• Gene vs. Allele: What’s the Difference?
• Genetic Variation Definition, Causes, and Examples

• Biology Article
• Mendel Laws Of Inheritance

Mendel's Laws of Inheritance

Inheritance can be defined as the process of how a child receives genetic information from the parent. The whole process of heredity is dependent upon inheritance and it is the reason that the offsprings are similar to the parents. This simply means that due to inheritance, the members of the same family possess similar characteristics.

It was only during the mid 19th century that people started to understand inheritance in a proper way. This understanding of inheritance was made possible by a scientist named Gregor Mendel, who formulated certain laws to understand inheritance known as Mendel’s laws of inheritance.

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Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance

Why was pea plant selected for mendel’s experiments, mendel’s experiments, conclusions from mendel’s experiments, mendel’s laws, key points on mendel’s laws.

Between 1856-1863, Mendel conducted the hybridization experiments on the garden peas. During that period, he chose some distinct characteristics of the peas and conducted some cross-pollination/ artificial pollination on the pea lines that showed stable trait inheritance and underwent continuous self-pollination. Such pea lines are called true-breeding pea lines.

Also Refer:   Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance: Mendel’s Contribution

He selected a pea plant for his experiments for the following reasons:

• The pea plant can be easily grown and maintained.
• They are naturally self-pollinating but can also be cross-pollinated.
• It is an annual plant, therefore, many generations can be studied within a short period of time.
• It has several contrasting characters.

Mendel conducted 2 main experiments to determine the laws of inheritance. These experiments were:

Monohybrid Cross

Dihybrid cross.

While experimenting, Mendel found that certain factors were always being transferred down to the offspring in a stable way. Those factors are now called genes i.e. genes can be called the units of inheritance.

Mendel experimented on a pea plant and considered 7 main contrasting traits in the plants. Then, he conducted both experiments to determine the inheritance laws. A brief explanation of the two experiments is given below.

In this experiment, Mendel took two pea plants of opposite traits (one short and one tall) and crossed them. He found the first generation offspring were tall and called it F1 progeny. Then he crossed F1 progeny and obtained both tall and short plants in the ratio 3:1. To know more about this experiment, visit Monohybrid Cross – Inheritance Of One Gene .

Mendel even conducted this experiment with other contrasting traits like green peas vs yellow peas, round vs wrinkled, etc. In all the cases, he found that the results were similar. From this, he formulated the laws of Segregation And Dominance .

In a dihybrid cross experiment, Mendel considered two traits, each having two alleles. He crossed wrinkled-green seed and round-yellow seeds and observed that all the first generation progeny (F1 progeny) were round-yellow. This meant that dominant traits were the round shape and yellow colour.

He then self-pollinated the F1 progeny and obtained 4 different traits: round-yellow, round-green, wrinkled-yellow, and wrinkled-green seeds in the ratio 9:3:3:1.

Check Dihybrid Cross and Inheritance of Two Genes to know more about this cross.

After conducting research for other traits, the results were found to be similar. From this experiment, Mendel formulated his second law of inheritance i.e. law of Independent Assortment.

• The genetic makeup of the plant is known as the genotype. On the contrary, the physical appearance of the plant is known as phenotype.
• The genes are transferred from parents to the offspring in pairs known as alleles.
• During gametogenesis when the chromosomes are halved, there is a 50% chance of one of the two alleles to fuse with the allele of the gamete of the other parent.
• When the alleles are the same, they are known as homozygous alleles and when the alleles are different they are known as heterozygous alleles.

Also Refer:   Mendelian Genetics

The two experiments lead to the formulation of Mendel’s laws known as laws of inheritance which are:

• Law of Dominance
• Law of Segregation
• Law of Independent Assortment

This is also called Mendel’s first law of inheritance. According to the law of dominance, hybrid offspring will only inherit the dominant trait in the phenotype. The alleles that are suppressed are called the recessive traits while the alleles that determine the trait are known as the dominant traits.

The law of segregation states that during the production of gametes, two copies of each hereditary factor segregate so that offspring acquire one factor from each parent. In other words, allele (alternative form of the gene) pairs segregate during the formation of gamete and re-unite randomly during fertilization. This is also known as Mendel’s third law of inheritance.

Also known as Mendel’s second law of inheritance, the law of independent assortment states that a pair of traits segregates independently of another pair during gamete formation. As the individual heredity factors assort independently, different traits get equal opportunity to occur together.

• The law of inheritance was proposed by Gregor Mendel after conducting experiments on pea plants for seven years.
• Mendel’s laws of inheritance include law of dominance, law of segregation and law of independent assortment.
• The law of segregation states that every individual possesses two alleles and only one allele is passed on to the offspring.
• The law of independent assortment states that the inheritance of one pair of genes is independent of inheritance of another pair.

Also Read:   Non-Mendelian Inheritance

Stay tuned with BYJU’S to learn more about Mendel’s Laws of Inheritance. You can also download the BYJU’S app for further reference on Mendel’s laws.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the three laws of inheritance proposed by mendel.

The three laws of inheritance proposed by Mendel include:

Which is the universally accepted law of inheritance?

Law of segregation is the universally accepted law of inheritance. It is the only law without any exceptions. It states that each trait consists of two alleles which segregate during the formation of gametes and one allele from each parent combines during fertilization.

Why is the law of segregation known as the law of purity of gametes?

The law of segregation is known as the law of purity of gametes because a gamete carries only a recessive or a dominant allele but not both the alleles.

Why was the pea plant used in Mendel’s experiments?

Mendel picked pea plants in his experiments because the pea plant has different observable traits. It can be grown easily in large numbers and its reproduction can be manipulated. Also, pea has both male and female reproductive organs, so they can self-pollinate as well as cross-pollinate.

What was the main aim of Mendel’s experiments?

The main aim of Mendel’s experiments was:

• To determine whether the traits would always be recessive.
• Whether traits affect each other as they are inherited.
• Whether traits could be transformed by DNA.

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very nice. it is the best to study about genetics

Genetic inheritance is so interesting

It helped me a lot Thanks

It is so amazing thanks a lot

Superb, it’s interesting.

It is very useful becoz all details explain in simple manner with examples

AWESOME, the above notes are fabulous

well that helped me a lot

Thanks, It helped me a lot!! Impeccable notes !!😍

Nice resource 👍

It helped me alot

If Mendel gave three law the what is the law of unit of characters and who proposed this law . Please clear my doubt a little bit faster , it is little important for me.

The Law of unit characters was proposed by Mendel. He explained that the inheritance of a trait is controlled by unit characters or factors, which are passed from parents to offspring through the gametes. These factors are now known as genes. Each factor exists in pairs, which are known as alleles.

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Law of Independent Assortment

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Law of Independent Assortment Definition

The Law of Independent Assortment states that different genes and their alleles are inherited independently within sexually reproducing organisms. During meiosis, chromosomes are separated into multiple gametes. Genes linked on a chromosome can rearrange themselves through the process of crossing-over. Therefore, each gene is inherited independently.  

Law of Independent Assortment Overview

This law describes the random inheritance of genes from maternal and paternal sources. According to the Law of Segregation, each chromosome is separated from its homolog, or counterpart, during meiosis. As such, the maternal and paternal chromosomes from your parents are “independently assorted”, meaning that chromosomes from the same source do not have to end up in the same gamete .

For instance, one gamete can end up with all maternal chromosomes, while another can have a mixture of both maternal and paternal chromosomes. This also means that the genes on these chromosomes are independently assorted. In effect, the Law of Independent Assortment creates a large amount of variety based on different combinations of genes which have not previously occurred.

In one instance, genes cannot be assorted completely randomly. This occurs with linked genes, or genes which share the same chromosome. However, the process of crossing-over during meiosis ensures that even these genes get rearranged. During crossing-over, homologous parts of maternal and paternal chromosomes can be exchanged. This ensures that even linked genes get independently assorted.

When Does Independent Assortment Occur?

Independent assortment occurs during the process of  meiosis . Meiosis is similar to mitosis, only the final product is gamete cells. Gamete cells have half the DNA of regular, diploid cells and are considered  haploid . This is a necessary part of sexual reproduction which allows two gamete cells to then fuse together to create a diploid zygote , containing all the DNA necessary to create a new organism.

To understand when independent assortment occurs, you must also understand the Law of Segregation . This law states that during meiosis, the two different copies of every gene are sorted into different gamete cells. The law of independent assortment, on the other hand, deals with the maternal and paternal sources of DNA being separated at random. To see these concepts in action, look at the image below:

As you can see, the law of independent assortment takes place as maternal and paternal sources of DNA are randomly divided. Sometimes, the gamete inherits the maternal version of a gene, and sometimes it inherits the paternal version. Which version it gets is completely random, based on the order that these chromosomes lined up in during the first stage of meiosis.

Law of Independent Assortment Examples

Independent assortment in meiosis.

As a basic example, let us consider a hypothetical population of bunny rabbits that only have two visible traits: fur color (black or white), and eye color (green or red). The black fur allele (B) is dominant over the white (b), while the green eye allele (G) is dominant over red (g).

In this hypothetical example, two hybrid rabbits are mixed. What this means is that both rabbits look black with green eyes, but are really they have a heterozygous genotype. Both rabbits have the genotype BbGg. In this population of 2 rabbits, all the individuals have the same mixture of characteristics. In other words, they are all black with green eyes.

Before breeding, each rabbit will have to produce gametes. During this process, not only are the alleles separated (law of segregation), but each copy of each chromosome is randomly assigned to a different gamete. This means regardless of the parental phenotype (black with green eyes), the babies can inherit different combinations of these traits. For instance, one baby could receive the bbgg genotype, giving it white fur and red eyes. Alternatively, a baby rabbit could also receive the genotype Bbgg, giving it black fur and red eyes. This is the law of independent assortment.

Independent Assortment in Mendel’s Experiments

Gregor Mendel performed many experiments involving breeding pea plants. In doing so, he gleaned information about how “units of heredity” work, which would later on become known as genes after DNA was discovered and determined to be the material that encodes genetic information.

Mendel developed the Law of Independent Assortment after breeding two different pea plants with two different characteristics; he bred plants with yellow, round peas with plants that had wrinkled, green peas. Since yellow and round were dominant over wrinkled and green, all the offspring had yellow, round peas.

But, when this first generation was crossbred with each other in a dihybrid cross, there was a lot of variation in the second generation. Peas were no longer either just yellow and round or green and wrinkled; some were green and round, while some were yellow and wrinkled. Furthermore, the offspring showed their characteristics in a ratio of 9:3:3:1. Nine were round and yellow, three were round and green, three were wrinkled and yellow, and one was wrinkled and green. This ratio stayed the same even when hundreds of dihybrids were crossed.

This occurred because each of the parent plants only gave their offspring one allele and because yellow and round were dominant traits and masked the green and/or wrinkled traits in certain individual plants. The diagram below depicts Mendel’s dihybrid cross.

Mendel’s experiment showed that the alleles for round or wrinkled peas were inherited independently from the alleles for yellow or green peas since the plants were not just round and yellow or green and wrinkled. We now know that they exist on different chromosomes, which allows them to be mixed up during the process of meiosis.

1. A pea plant with the genotype YYRR is crossed with a pea plant with the genotype yyrr. What will the offspring’s genotype be?

2. Y is the allele for yellow peas, and y is for green peas. The R allele creates round peas, while the r allele creates wrinkled peas. Given this information, what will be the phenotype of the offspring created from a cross between a YYRR individual and a yyrr individual?

3. Why is the law of independent assortment important to creating variety within a population?

4. Does the Law of Independent Assortment apply to the asexual reproduction of bacteria?

5. What is the difference between the Law of Independent Assortment and the Law of Segregation?

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Mendel’s Law of Segregation

General objective of this lecture is to present on Mendel’s Law of Segregation. The Principle of Segregation describes how pairs of gene variants are separated into reproductive cells. The segregation of gene variants, called alleles, and their corresponding traits was first observed by Gregor Mendel in 1865. Mendel was studying genetics by performing mating crosses in pea plants. He crossed two heterozygous pea plants, which means that each plant had two different alleles at a particular genetic position.

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More From Forbes

American taxpayer abroad: u.s. social security, what you need to know.

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Many expatriates have questions about how U.S. Social Security works when they're overseas. Do they ... [+] pay into the U.S. and foreign country systems? Can they combine credits of both countries? What if no one withholds the tax? What about self-employment? This article addresses those questions and more.

The world of work has changed dramatically. No longer confined to an office in a fixed location, people are working from many different locales and exploring varied work lifestyles. The possibilities are vast - working in foreign countries, living as a digital nomad, owning one’s own company abroad, are but a few.

If you are an American working abroad or planning an overseas assignment, understanding how the U.S. Social Security and Medicare taxes will apply to you is just one of the many things to consider . These taxes don’t simply disappear. Today’s article answers common questions and breaks down key points to navigate your benefits wisely.

U.S. Social Security And Medicare Taxes Abroad

If you're working for an American employer while abroad, U.S. Social Security and Medicare taxes still apply and will be withheld by the employer. For the self-employed, a 15.3% self-employment tax applies to net earnings (basically, the profit); it is a combination of both Social Security and Medicare taxes on net earnings and remains applicable regardless of where you’re working. There is one major difference between self-employment tax and the payroll taxes imposed on employees. Taxpayers with employers each pay one-half of the taxes (7.65% each for worker and employer), whereas self-employed individuals must pay both halves (15.3%). It often comes as an unwelcome surprise to the self-employed American that the permissible exclusion for income earned for services overseas will not reduce self-employment income subject to the self-employment tax.

Depending on the facts, self-employment tax can be eliminated if the expatriate sets up an entity in the foreign country and becomes its employee. This is a complex issue since other U.S. tax provisions can come into play. Competent U.S. tax advice is critical.

Common Questions About U.S. Social Security Overseas

Key questions include:

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• Do I pay taxes to both the U.S. and my host country's social security systems if I work for an American employer?
• What happens if I'm employed overseas but not by an American employer or I'm not self-employed and do not pay self-employment tax?
• Does my overseas work count towards U.S. Social Security eligibility if I don’t have enough credits?
• If I have enough U.S. Social Security credits, do my foreign social security credits count towards U.S. benefits?

Totalization Agreements

Depending on where you are working, if a totalization agreement is in effect between the U.S. and host country, it may offer big benefits. Totalization agreements "totalize" or combine periods of coverage from two different countries' social security systems. Their primary purpose is to ensure that workers who divide their careers between the U.S. and another country do not lose out on social security benefits due to insufficient coverage in either country. By "totalizing" the work credits from both, these agreements protect workers with careers split between the U.S. and other countries. The U.S. has negotiated totalization agreements with 30 countries .

Totalization agreements can also eliminate double taxation. When working for an American employer in a foreign country, a totalization agreement can prevent you from paying social security taxes to both the U.S. and the host country on the same earnings. For self-employed individuals, totalization agreements can also prevent double taxation on self-employment income.

The specifics of each agreement vary, so it's important to review the relevant totalization agreement to understand how it applies to your particular situation. It would be a good idea to engage professional assistance.

Dual Taxation: A Common Expatriate Issue

Without a totalization agreement, many expatriates end up paying social security taxes to both the U.S. and their host country. This double taxation can be a significant financial burden. While totalization agreements alleviate this issue, they don't cover all countries, leaving some expatriates subject to dual taxation.

No Social Security Obligations At All

Some countries do not have social security systems or, they have social security systems only for their own citizens. Americans working in such countries for non-American employers or those who are not self-employed might find themselves without any social security obligations. This scenario can increase take-home pay but also leaves workers without contributions towards social security benefits. Such taxpayers may wish to make “voluntary” contributions to their U.S. social security account, but this is not possible.

It's essential to have a robust retirement plan in place, but one must be very cautious about investing in offshore products designed to act as retirement schemes. Many have adverse U.S. tax consequences.

Qualifying for U.S. Social Security Through Totalization Agreements

The U.S. Social Security program offers various benefits, including retirement income, disability payments, and survivor benefits. To be eligible for retirement benefits you generally need 40 quarters (10 years) of work. If you don't have enough U.S. coverage, totalization agreements can help by allowing you to count your foreign work credits towards U.S. eligibility.

Partial Benefits Through Totalization Agreements

If you have social security credits in both the U.S. and another country, you might be eligible for benefits from one or both countries. A totalization agreement can help you qualify for partial benefits by combining credits from both countries. However, if you already qualify for U.S. benefits, the U.S. will not count your foreign credits .

Working overseas as an American comes with a unique set of challenges and opportunities, especially when it comes to navigating Social Security and Medicare taxes. Understanding how these systems apply to your situation, whether through totalization agreements or the specifics of U.S. self-employment tax, is crucial for optimizing financial and retirement planning. Stay informed and proactive to ensure your hard work abroad contributes to a secure and comfortable future.

An important caveat : If living abroad leads you to consider renouncing your U.S. citizenship or abandoning your green card, this decision brings on a host of very serious tax-related issues . Understanding the impact on social security is but one of many things to carefully analzye with appropriate counsel.

I help with tax matters around the globe. Reach me at [email protected]

Check my website: www.us-tax.org

Send a note about an area of tax you’d like to see me write about.

NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP OR LEGAL ADVICE

This communication is for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to constitute tax advice or a recommended course of action. Professional tax advice should be sought as the information here is not intended to be, and should not be, relied upon by the reader in making a decision.

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The University of Chicago The Law School

Innovation clinic—significant achievements for 2023-24.

The Innovation Clinic continued its track record of success during the 2023-2024 school year, facing unprecedented demand for our pro bono services as our reputation for providing high caliber transactional and regulatory representation spread. The overwhelming number of assistance requests we received from the University of Chicago, City of Chicago, and even national startup and venture capital communities enabled our students to cherry-pick the most interesting, pedagogically valuable assignments offered to them. Our focus on serving startups, rather than all small- to medium-sized businesses, and our specialization in the needs and considerations that these companies have, which differ substantially from the needs of more traditional small businesses, has proven to be a strong differentiator for the program both in terms of business development and prospective and current student interest, as has our further focus on tackling idiosyncratic, complex regulatory challenges for first-of-their kind startups. We are also beginning to enjoy more long-term relationships with clients who repeatedly engage us for multiple projects over the course of a year or more as their legal needs develop.

This year’s twelve students completed over twenty projects and represented clients in a very broad range of industries: mental health and wellbeing, content creation, medical education, biotech and drug discovery, chemistry, food and beverage, art, personal finance, renewable energy, fintech, consumer products and services, artificial intelligence (“AI”), and others. The matters that the students handled gave them an unparalleled view into the emerging companies and venture capital space, at a level of complexity and agency that most junior lawyers will not experience until several years into their careers.

Representative Engagements

While the Innovation Clinic’s engagements are highly confidential and cannot be described in detail, a high-level description of a representative sample of projects undertaken by the Innovation Clinic this year includes:

Transactional/Commercial Work

• A previous client developing a symptom-tracking wellness app for chronic disease sufferers engaged the Innovation Clinic again, this time to restructure its cap table by moving one founder’s interest in the company to a foreign holding company and subjecting the holding company to appropriate protections in favor of the startup.
• Another client with whom the Innovation Clinic had already worked several times engaged us for several new projects, including (1) restructuring their cap table and issuing equity to an additional, new founder, (2) drafting several different forms of license agreements that the company could use when generating content for the platform, covering situations in which the company would license existing content from other providers, jointly develop new content together with contractors or specialists that would then be jointly owned by all creators, or commission contractors to make content solely owned by the company, (3) drafting simple agreements for future equity (“Safes”) for the company to use in its seed stage fundraising round, and (4) drafting terms of service and a privacy policy for the platform.
• Yet another repeat client, an internet platform that supports independent artists by creating short films featuring the artists to promote their work and facilitates sales of the artists’ art through its platform, retained us this year to draft a form of independent contractor agreement that could be used when the company hires artists to be featured in content that the company’s Fortune 500 brand partners commission from the company, and to create capsule art collections that could be sold by these Fortune 500 brand partners in conjunction with the content promotion.
• We worked with a platform using AI to accelerate the Investigational New Drug (IND) approval and application process to draft a form of license agreement for use with its customers and an NDA for prospective investors.
• A novel personal finance platform for young, high-earning individuals engaged the Innovation Clinic to form an entity for the platform, including helping the founders to negotiate a deal among them with respect to roles and equity, terms that the equity would be subject to, and other post-incorporation matters, as well as to draft terms of service and a privacy policy for the platform.
• Students also formed an entity for a biotech therapeutics company founded by University of Chicago faculty members and an AI-powered legal billing management platform founded by University of Chicago students.
• A founder the Innovation Clinic had represented in connection with one venture engaged us on behalf of his other venture team to draft an equity incentive plan for the company as well as other required implementing documentation. His venture with which we previously worked also engaged us this year to draft Safes to be used with over twenty investors in a seed financing round.

More information regarding other types of transactional projects that we typically take on can be found here .

Regulatory Research and Advice

• A team of Innovation Clinic students invested a substantial portion of our regulatory time this year performing highly detailed and complicated research into public utilities laws of several states to advise a groundbreaking renewable energy technology company as to how its product might be regulated in these states and its clearest path to market. This project involved a review of not only the relevant state statutes but also an analysis of the interplay between state and federal statutes as it relates to public utilities law, the administrative codes of the relevant state executive branch agencies, and binding and non-binding administrative orders, decisions and guidance from such agencies in other contexts that could shed light on how such states would regulate this never-before-seen product that their laws clearly never contemplated could exist. The highly varied approach to utilities regulation in all states examined led to a nuanced set of analysis and recommendations for the client.
• In another significant research project, a separate team of Innovation Clinic students undertook a comprehensive review of all settlement orders and court decisions related to actions brought by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for violations of the prohibition on unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices under the Consumer Financial Protection Act, as well as selected relevant settlement orders, court decisions, and other formal and informal guidance documents related to actions brought by the Federal Trade Commission for violations of the prohibition on unfair or deceptive acts or practices under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, to assemble a playbook for a fintech company regarding compliance. This playbook, which distilled very complicated, voluminous legal decisions and concepts into a series of bullet points with clear, easy-to-follow rules and best practices, designed to be distributed to non-lawyers in many different facets of this business, covered all aspects of operations that could subject a company like this one to liability under the laws examined, including with respect to asset purchase transactions, marketing and consumer onboarding, usage of certain terms of art in advertising, disclosure requirements, fee structures, communications with customers, legal documentation requirements, customer service and support, debt collection practices, arrangements with third parties who act on the company’s behalf, and more.

Miscellaneous

• Last year’s students built upon the Innovation Clinic’s progress in shaping the rules promulgated by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) pursuant to the Corporate Transparency Act to create a client alert summarizing the final rule, its impact on startups, and what startups need to know in order to comply. When FinCEN issued additional guidance with respect to that final rule and changed portions of the final rule including timelines for compliance, this year’s students updated the alert, then distributed it to current and former clients to notify them of the need to comply. The final bulletin is available here .
• In furtherance of that work, additional Innovation Clinic students this year analyzed the impact of the final rule not just on the Innovation Clinic’s clients but also its impact on the Innovation Clinic, and how the Innovation Clinic should change its practices to ensure compliance and minimize risk to the Innovation Clinic. This also involved putting together a comprehensive filing guide for companies that are ready to file their certificates of incorporation to show them procedurally how to do so and explain the choices they must make during the filing process, so that the Innovation Clinic would not be involved in directing or controlling the filings and thus would not be considered a “company applicant” on any client’s Corporate Transparency Act filings with FinCEN.
• The Innovation Clinic also began producing thought leadership pieces regarding AI, leveraging our distinct and uniquely University of Chicago expertise in structuring early-stage companies and analyzing complex regulatory issues with a law and economics lens to add our voice to those speaking on this important topic. One student wrote about whether non-profits are really the most desirable form of entity for mitigating risks associated with AI development, and another team of students prepared an analysis of the EU’s AI Act, comparing it to the Executive Order on AI from President Biden, and recommended a path forward for an AI regulatory environment in the United States. Both pieces can be found here , with more to come!

Innovation Trek

Thanks to another generous gift from Douglas Clark, ’89, and managing partner of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, we were able to operationalize the second Innovation Trek over Spring Break 2024. The Innovation Trek provides University of Chicago Law School students with a rare opportunity to explore the innovation and venture capital ecosystem in its epicenter, Silicon Valley. The program enables participating students to learn from business and legal experts in a variety of different industries and roles within the ecosystem to see how the law and economics principles that students learn about in the classroom play out in the real world, and facilitates meaningful connections between alumni, students, and other speakers who are leaders in their fields. This year, we took twenty-three students (as opposed to twelve during the first Trek) and expanded the offering to include not just Innovation Clinic students but also interested students from our JD/MBA Program and Doctoroff Business Leadership Program. We also enjoyed four jam-packed days in Silicon Valley, expanding the trip from the two and a half days that we spent in the Bay Area during our 2022 Trek.

The substantive sessions of the Trek were varied and impactful, and enabled in no small part thanks to substantial contributions from numerous alumni of the Law School. Students were fortunate to visit Coinbase’s Mountain View headquarters to learn from legal leaders at the company on all things Coinbase, crypto, and in-house, Plug & Play Tech Center’s Sunnyvale location to learn more about its investment thesis and accelerator programming, and Google’s Moonshot Factory, X, where we heard from lawyers at a number of different Alphabet companies about their lives as in-house counsel and the varied roles that in-house lawyers can have. We were also hosted by Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati and Fenwick & West LLP where we held sessions featuring lawyers from those firms, alumni from within and outside of those firms, and non-lawyer industry experts on topics such as artificial intelligence, climate tech and renewables, intellectual property, biotech, investing in Silicon Valley, and growth stage companies, and general advice on career trajectories and strategies. We further held a young alumni roundtable, where our students got to speak with alumni who graduated in the past five years for intimate, candid discussions about life as junior associates. In total, our students heard from more than forty speakers, including over twenty University of Chicago alumni from various divisions.

The Trek didn’t stop with education, though. Throughout the week students also had the opportunity to network with speakers to learn more from them outside the confines of panel presentations and to grow their networks. We had a networking dinner with Kirkland & Ellis, a closing dinner with all Trek participants, and for the first time hosted an event for admitted students, Trek participants, and alumni to come together to share experiences and recruit the next generation of Law School students. Several speakers and students stayed in touch following the Trek, and this resulted not just in meaningful relationships but also in employment for some students who attended.

More information on the purposes of the Trek is available here , the full itinerary is available here , and one student participant’s story describing her reflections on and descriptions of her experience on the Trek is available here .

The Innovation Clinic is grateful to all of its clients for continuing to provide its students with challenging, high-quality legal work, and to the many alumni who engage with us for providing an irreplaceable client pipeline and for sharing their time and energy with our students. Our clients are breaking the mold and bringing innovations to market that will improve the lives of people around the world in numerous ways. We are glad to aid in their success in any way that we can. We look forward to another productive year in 2024-2025!