Gregor Mendel's upbringing in a rural environment and his education in a monastic school deeply influenced his work in genetics. Raised on a farm, he developed a keen interest in plant cultivation and observation of natural phenomena. His access to scientific texts and his experiments with pea plants allowed him to formulate the fundamental laws of inheritance. His background provided him with the empirical method and patience necessary for meticulous experimentation, though his work remained largely unrecognized during his lifetime.