July 20, 2022, was the bicentennial of the birth of Johann Mendel, the founder of the modern science of genetics, who died at 62 years as Abbot Gregor Mendel. In that mid-summer anniversary week, about 600 people assembled for musical festivals, cultural festivals, and a gala reception at his abbey and museum in the city of Brno, Czech Republic, where Mendel lived and worked, and 400 people from 24 countries attended a celebratory biomedical conference (where we lectured) in tribute to his revolutionary discoveries.

The musical centerpiece was the Brno Philharmonic鈥檚 performance of the Glagolitic Mass by the prominent Czech composer Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek, who provided the music for the 1884 funeral of his good friend Fr Gregor Mendel. A 7-m-high inflatable green pea was parked at the site of the event for the week after traveling throughout Brno over the year to celebrate its famous citizen.