Wilhelm Ludvig Johannsen helped lay the foundation for the modern science of genetics. His studies with bean plants enabled him to distinguish between genotype (characteristics that can undergo natural selection) and phenotype (characteristics independent of natural selection.) He established a new vocabulary for studying heredity, including the word "gene," and was among the first biologists to apply rigorous statistical methods to research data. Although Johannsen was trained as a pharmacist, had no formal university degree, and pursued his research mostly as an accomplished amateur, he was eventually made a professor at the University of Copenhagen and was widely revered for his scientific contributions. Ojvind Winge reported in Journal of Heredity that Johannsen once wrote about his unusual intellectual background: "That training which... [formally educated] naturalists received has, partly due to its almost purely descriptive direction, provided them with blinkers which I, with all my scientific unsophistication, thank Heaven...