For her science fair project, your little sister replicated one of Mendel’s experiments. From a P0 pea plant with purple flowers and a pea plant with white flowers, she got 1 purple F1 hybrid (she had forgotten to water, so just one survived). From this self-fertilized F1 she got 8 F2 offspring. 7 were purple and 1 was white, for a 7:1 ratio. Did your little sister just disprove Mendel’s laws?
A. Yes. This, and other examples of non-Mendelian genetics demonstrate that Mendel’s Laws are actually incorrect and misleading.
B. No. When another pea pod forms on the plant, that will bring the numbers up to the correct 9:3, or 3:1 ratio
C. No. Dehydrating the parent caused Lamarckian selection on the offspring.
D. No. Random chance can cause deviations in the ratio of small numbers of progeny.