During a scientific meeting (Natural AntiCancer Drugs 2012) held in the Czech Republic, I took the opportunity to travel to the city of Brno, to visit the Mendelovo Museum. This museum celebrates the life of Gregor Mendel, who is the father of genetics. The museum is housed within the Augustinian Abbey of St Thomas, where Mendel conducted his famous experiments on pea plants during the 1850s. It seems that Mendel had many of the traits of geniuses: a careful observer of common phenomena, attention to notetaking, using skills he acquired over his lifetime, ask simple questions. Mendel was trained in botany and was raised in a farming family that was interested in growing various plants and trees. At that time, no one knew how traits in plants or animals could disappear and then reappear, even though references to this event had been cited in the Bible. But, by growing peas (the original plot was just a few metres from what is now the museum entrance) Mendel realized that traits exist in pairs. 150 years later, we are still uncovering the magnitude of his discovery. The museum nicely captures the nature of Mendel's discovery and highlights that he was gifted in other skills related to weather observation, bee keeping and administration of the abbey. The museum is worth a visit for any scientist, especially those in biology.
