The treasure may be buried in a field, Jesus says in this Sunday’s gospel, but the diligent will seek and possess it. The popular search engine Google, known for tailoring its logo into “Google Doodles” to commemorate events, Wednesday marked the 189th birthday of Augustinian monk Father Gregor Johann Mendel, father of the science of genetics, with a logo made of pea pods.

Mendel discovered the secrets of genetics buried in his garden by diligently studying inherited traits in generations of pea pods. "We celebrate Gregor Mendel, Austrian botanist and father of genetics, born July 20, 1822. Peas enjoy!" Google tweeted Wednesday morning.

Testing tens of thousands of pea plants, Mendel studied the patterns of dominant, recessive, and hybrid traits and developed theories that became instrumental in the development of the science of genetics. But Mendel's work was rejected by his contemporaries and not widely accepted until well after his death in 1884.

Mendel’s theories finally were verified by independent studies done by other scientists early in the 20th century. Science now credits Mendel with being the first to understand the process of genetic inheritance.

The monastic with a gift for science also studied the secret lives of bees as well as astronomy and meteorology. While a student in Vienna he had studied physics under Prof. Christian Doppler of “Doppler effect” fame. But after he was elected an abbot in 1868, Mendel’s scientific work largely ended when he became consumed with his increased administrative responsibilities.

Sources: Articles by Michael Cayna for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Wikipedia.com