Gregor Mendel and the concepts of dominance and recessiveness

Developed at a time when the basic molecular and cellular elements of inheritance were yet to be identified, the concepts of dominance and recessiveness are at the core of the connection between genotype and phenotype in diploid organisms. On the occasion of Gregor Mendel’s 200th birthday, we reflect on the history of the terms dominant and recessive, and their current use in medical genetics.