WI: Mendelian Inheritance Discovered Earlier

If my understanding is correct, Gregor Mendel's discoveries did not require advanced technology; only careful observation. Yes, they were ignored in the 19th century, but changing circumstances is what alternate history is for. :)

What would have happened if basic principles of heredity were discovered and widely known in the medieval or Renaissance periods? Would a greater population be possible due to greater agricultural knowledge? Would European royalty (ESPECIALLY the Habsburgs) be less inbred? Would governments try to implement primitive eugenics programs?

(Well, you can have other places discover such an idea too, but I was thinking about dysfunctional European dynasties when the question occurred to me)

Speculate away!
 

Deleted member 67076

I don't know how plausible this is, but you could probably have Mendel's discoveries occur during the Islamic Golden Age and have that knowledge seep into Europe as time went on.
 
Would a greater population be possible due to greater agricultural knowledge?
No, since selective breeding of animals and crops was already in place, even if they had the process wrong.

Would European royalty (ESPECIALLY the Habsburgs) be less inbred?
I could be mistaken, but I don't think the problems of inbreeding were discovered until much later.

Would governments try to implement primitive eugenics programs?
This I could see, although I don't really know how they'd even attempt to enforce these before industrialization made it easier to keep track of people.
 
No, since selective breeding of animals and crops was already in place, even if they had the process wrong.


I could be mistaken, but I don't think the problems of inbreeding were discovered until much later.


This I could see, although I don't really know how they'd even attempt to enforce these before industrialization made it easier to keep track of people.

Well, eugenics schemes of sorts go waay back. If you don't count Plato's Republics notes on the point, there's still Campanella's City of Sun (ca. 1600) among others. It's pretty hard however to see anything like that implemented in practice, even in a context where Campanella is taken seriously (which is a fairly though sell in itself).
 
I don't know how plausible this is, but you could probably have Mendel's discoveries occur during the Islamic Golden Age and have that knowledge seep into Europe as time went on.

This sounds like a good POD!

Ibn al-Haytham lived from 965-1040 in OTL, so perhaps that is the right timeframe. He recognized the need to study optics in a controlled setting.

As for the inbreeding, it turns out there were studies suggesting that it could be an issue as early as 1858's Bemiss Report.

https://archive.org/details/60531150R.nlm.nih.gov

I hadn't heard of Campanella's book before. Apparently sexual partners in his utopia must be determined by. . .astrology? :rolleyes:

Interesting responses!
 
I wonder if this would lead to an earlier, better understanding of variation within species, and consequently lead to an earlier advent of the concept of natural selection.
 
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