How are traits passed from parents to offspring? The answer is by gene transmission. Genes are located on chromosomes and consist of DNA. They are passed from parents to their offspring through reproduction. The principles that govern heredity were discovered by a monk named Gregor Mendel in the 1860's. One of these principles is now called Mendel's law of segregation.
Mendel worked with pea plants and selected seven traits to study that each occurred in two different forms.