Funding Approved For Celebrations of Mendel’s 200th Birthday

The 200th birthday of Gregor Johann Mendel will be commemorated in 2022 and preparations for the event are already underway. Brno City Council has been preparing for the event this week and approved funding for a Czech TV series based on Mendel as well as the creation of the Mendel Box. Photo credit: TMA / BD. 

Brno, Nov 11 (BD) – The 200th birthday of Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of modern genetics, will be commemorated with many events planned for 2022. This week, Brno City Council approved funding for a Czech Television (CTV) series based on the scientist and reimbursement to the Brno Observatory and Planetarium for the creation of the Mendel Box.

A CTV series will tell the story of Gregor Johann Mendel, the father of modern genetics. The series is aimed at children and will help them to discover more about science, covering topics such as nature, ecology, genetics, plant breeding, beekeeping, meteorology and astronomy. The topics will be presented in a detective format, in which a group of three children learn about the topics and unravel the mystery of the life of Mr. M (G.J. Mendel). 

“The main goal of this project is to create for children a positive relationship with science. This is related to the city’s main ambition to celebrate Mendel’s birth, which lies precisely in the popularization of science and research. This ambition is appropriately supported by the Action Plan approved by Brno City Council and is also in line with recently approved strategic documents, which are the regional innovation strategy of the South Moravian Region and Vision Brno 2050,” explained Deputy Mayor Tomas Kolacny (Pirati).

The Brno studio of CTV asked for CZK 400,000 of funding from the City in the development of the series, which was approved by city councillors today. 

Another feature of the celebrations is the informative Mendel Box, which was launched earlier this year along with a giant travelling pea

The Mendel Box alongside the travelling pea in July 2020. Photo credit: TMA /BD.

“Mendel Box has been a part of a lot of events this year. It is actually a mobile exposure that can be unfolded almost anywhere, with a popular-nature program projected inside, aiming to inform the public about current genetic research, whether on plant or human genomes. Institutions that are involved in the preparation of celebrations in 2022 have been cooperating on the programme,” said Koláčný.

This week, Brno City Council approved the reimbursement of CZK 463,000 in production costs to the Brno Observatory and Planetarium. The Mendel Box is currently located in the VIDA! Science Centre.

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