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Multiple Choice
During Gregor Mendel's time in the mid-19th century, what was the scientific understanding of genes and chromosomes?
A
Genes and chromosomes were unknown concepts; Mendel described 'factors' without knowledge of their physical basis.
B
Both genes and chromosomes were discovered and widely accepted before Mendel's experiments.
C
Genes and chromosomes were well understood, and Mendel used these terms in his experiments.
D
Chromosomes were known, but the concept of genes had not yet been proposed.
Verified step by step guidance
1
Step 1: Understand the historical context of Gregor Mendel's work, which took place in the mid-19th century (around the 1860s).
Step 2: Recognize that during Mendel's time, the concepts of 'genes' and 'chromosomes' as we know them today were not yet discovered or understood.
Step 3: Mendel described hereditary units as 'factors' based on his experiments with pea plants, but he did not know their physical nature or location within cells.
Step 4: The discovery of chromosomes and the formal concept of genes came later, after Mendel's work, through advances in cytology and genetics in the early 20th century.
Step 5: Therefore, the correct understanding is that Mendel worked with abstract 'factors' without knowledge of genes or chromosomes, which were unknown concepts at his time.