Gregor Mendel: Planting the Seeds of Genetics

Shark Population Genetics

DNA can reveal things about an animal’s behavior that binoculars can’t.

Dr. Kevin Feldheim manages The Field Museum’s Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, which is dedicated to genetic analysis and preservation of the world's biodiversity. He has a special interest in sharks, particularly lemon sharks, and has learned much about their mating behavior through DNA research. Genetic markers called “microsatellites” provide definitive information on mating patterns and fidelity to nursery areas, information that is crucial to protection plans for these threatened creatures.

Dr. Feldheim says:

“By genetically identifying every sampled shark, I can follow the breeding habits of each shark throughout its lifetime. Using these methods, we’ve found that females are coming back to specific islands to give birth to their young on a two-

year cycle. We also found that females are mating with several males to give rise to their litters. We were only able to answer these questions using DNA technology. So DNA technology has revolutionized how we view biological systems and has challenged some long-standing theories of behavior.

“Without Mendel’s discoveries, evolutionary biology wouldn’t have its foundation. Although we use more sophisticated tools and analyses, we are still applying Mendel’s ideas to today’s genetic research.”

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