Heredity, also called inheritance or biological inheritance, is the passing on of traits from parents to their offspring; either through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction, the offspring cells or organisms acquire the genetic information of their parents.
The study of heredity is known as genetics. The term 'heredity' is derived from the Latin 'hereditatem', meaning 'heirship'. Gregor Mendel's work in the 19th century laid the foundation for modern genetics.
Heredity is a fundamental concept in biology, explaining how traits are passed down through generations and why individuals within a species exhibit variation.