Who was the first genetic engineer?

This paper discusses how Gregor Mendel discovered the predictive law on the characteristics of the offspring through his power of observation and patience. Mendel's law, which has had a tremendous influence on medical and biological thinking, postulates that in the generation of hybrids one half of the progeny will breed true to the parental characteristics and the other half will be equally divided between offspring possessing only the dominant or the recessive characteristics. Mendel lived at a time when the first engineering schools were being created and the only degree granted was in civil engineering. However, if Mendel had lived at a time when bioengineering existed, he would undoubtedly be the first genetic engineer.