Gregor Mendel is generally recognized as the father of genetics because he generated new varieties of pea plants by random crosses of natural varieties. discovered the principles of heredity by crossing different varieties of pea plants and analyzing their traits in subsequent generations. discovered that inheritance of specific traits is associated with inheritance of particular chromosomes. All of the above Both b and c

Discovered the principles of heredity by crossing different varieties of pea plants and analyzing their traits in subsequent generations.

Explanation:

Mendel was the first one to show study the genetic basis of inheritance experimentally. He proposed the laws of inheritance to explain the transmission of genetic traits from one generation to next. He explained the presence of heritable units in pairs and predicts the pattern of their segregation into gametes. These units were later identified as genes.

He selected garden pea plants as his experimental materials and performed several cross-fertilization events between the pure breeding parent pea plants differing in one or other traits to observe the inheritance of selected genetic trait over several generations.

For example, he crossed the pure breeding tall and dwarf pea plants to obtain F1 progeny. He self crossed the F1 progeny to observe the inheritance of "height" from F1 to F2 progeny. He also studied the inheritance pattern of plant height in the next generations.