Particulate inheritance
Particulate inheritance is a pattern of inheritance discovered by Mendelian genetics theorists, such as William Bateson, Ronald Fisher or Gregor Mendel himself, showing that phenotypic traits can be passed from generation to generation through "discrete particles" known as genes, which can keep their ability to be expressed while not always appearing in a descending generation. == Scientific developments leading up to the theory == Early in the 19th century, scientists had already recognized that Earth has been inhabited by living creatures for a very long time.