--- title: "Scientists Think Gregor Mendel Would Be “Happy” That They Dug Up His Body to Study His Genetics" description: "Just before his 200th birthday, scientists exhumed the remains of Gregor Mendel, the Czech friar credited with being the father of genetics." date: "2023-01-04" modified: "2023-01-04" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/scientists-exhumed-gregor-mendel" categories: - "Genetics" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "czech republic" - "dna" - "genetics" - "gregor mendel" --- # Scientists Think Gregor Mendel Would Be “Happy” That They Dug Up His Body to Study His Genetics ![Just before his 200th birthday, scientists exhumed the remains of Gregor Mendel, the Czech friar credited with being the father of genetics.]() *\Image: Hulton Archive via Getty / Futurism\* Just before his 200th birthday, scientists exhumed the remains of Gregor Mendel, the father of genetics. Macabre as it sounds, the scientists involved explained in a [new *NPR* interview]() that celebrating the bicentennial of Mendel's 1822 birth with exhumation may well have pleased the Czech genetics pioneer. "We believe that he would be happy," said Šárka Pospíšilová, a geneticist and rector of Masaryk University in Brno, Czech Republic, where Mendel lived and was buried. "We know he was very enthusiastic for all kinds of research... he wasn't against research on his own body." Pospíšilová isn't alone in her theory, either. "I tend to think, from what I know about him, that he very well may have been happy about this," Daniel Fairbanks, a plant geneticist who wrote a biography of the friar scientist, told the broadcaster. "But of course we can't directly ask him." After getting permission from the order of Augustinian monks that Mendel belonged to, scientists in Brno were able to dig up the good friar back in the [summer of 2021](). After comparing a hair found in his effects to the old bones in his coffin — found at the bottom of a communal grave that held five coffins but only had listed the names of four monks — were able to conclude that they indeed had the right guy. The scientists learned not only that Mendel had what [local news called]() an "extraordinarily large brain," but that his DNA contained genetic markers for diabetes, kidney disease and heart problems. He also, the report notes, had a gene associated with epilepsy and neurological issues, which seems to track with descriptions of debilitating and lifelong psychological struggles. "He suffered throughout his life from some sort of a psychological or neurological disorder that caused him to have very severe nervous breakdowns," Fairbanks told *NPR*. "That may well have been an inherited condition." Known for his pea plant experiments that paved the way for centuries of future genetics research, Mendel was, as Masaryk molecular biologist Filip Pardy noted, the first person to teach genetics at that same university. "Everybody feels that he's very important, especially here in Brno," Pardy told *NPR*. "He's kind of a role model... who stood at the beginning of everything we do." We've heard of [killing your idols](), but exhuming them is an interesting twist on the concept. **More on plant genetics:** *[Scientists Gene Hack Random Plant to Grow Cocaine]()* ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()