What does Mendel's law of segregation state about alleles during gamete formation?

Mendel's law of segregation states that during the formation of gametes, the two alleles for a gene segregate from one another. This means that each gamete will carry only one allele for each gene. When an organism reproduces, the alleles from each parent combine in the offspring, leading to the potential for various genetic combinations. This principle is fundamental in understanding inheritance patterns, as it illustrates how traits are passed from parents to offspring through the random selection of alleles during gamete formation.

The answer reflects Mendel's key discovery that each individual organism possesses two alleles for each trait (one inherited from each parent), but these alleles are separated during meiosis, ensuring that each gamete ends up with just one allele. This foundational concept greatly contributed to the field of genetics and our understanding of how traits are inherited.