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In 1903, William Bateson found that snapdragon flower colour did not follow the same pattern of inheritance seen in other species he had studied. His student Muriel Wheldale worked on the puzzle for four years, cross-pollinating selected flowers by hand, then sowing the seed and observing the offspring. She established that there were several genes which influence flower colour. Therefore, the inheritance of characteristics is due to the interactions of many genes with different forms.