Zoe Collins Mrs. G AP Biology 30 March 2014 Pedigree Lab Introduction: Gregor Mendel laid the foundation for our knowledge on genetics, and as time went one scientists continued to confirm and extend Mendel?s ideas. Discoveries on subjects such as DNA structure, mitosis and meioses all explain Mendel?s hypotheses. Mendel demonstrated that genes on different chromosomes, or unlinked genes, are inherited separately under the idea of independent assortment. But due to linked genes gametes are often produced with different combinations of alleles that are different then those of the parents.