What fundamental laws of inheritance did Mendel develop through his experiments?

Mendel's experiments laid the foundation for modern genetics by establishing the fundamental principles of inheritance. The law of segregation states that during the formation of gametes, the two alleles for a trait separate so that each gamete carries only one allele for each gene. This principle explains how offspring inherit one allele from each parent, leading to the predictable ratios of traits in the next generation.

The law of independent assortment states that the alleles for different genes segregate independently of one another during gamete formation. This means that the inheritance of one trait generally does not affect the inheritance of another, resulting in a variety of combinations of traits in the offspring. Mendel observed these patterns in his pea plant experiments, where he tracked the inheritance of traits such as seed color and shape.

In contrast, the other options refer to concepts that do not pertain directly to Mendelian genetics. The laws of conservation and thermodynamics are related to physical sciences, while dominance and genetic drift address different aspects of genetics and evolutionary biology. Similarly, the laws of mutations and adaptation are important in the context of evolutionary theory but are not specific to Mendel's findings on inheritance. Thus, the correct answer encompasses the key laws that emerged from Mendel's pioneering work in heredity.