Scribd
Upload
8K views3 pages

Biogenesis Theory and Key Experiments

The document summarizes key experiments and findings that disproved the theory of spontaneous generation and supported the theory of biogenesis. Redi's experiment in the 17th century showed that maggots came from fly eggs, not directly from decaying meat. Despite this, the idea of spontaneous generation persisted until Pasteur's swan-necked flask experiment in the 19th century, which demonstrated that microorganisms from air could be prevented from entering sterile broth, disproving spontaneous generation. Leeuwenhoek also provided evidence through microscopy that supported biogenesis over spontaneous generation.

Uploaded by

Patrick Go
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
8K views3 pages

Biogenesis Theory and Key Experiments

The document summarizes key experiments and findings that disproved the theory of spontaneous generation and supported the theory of biogenesis. Redi's experiment in the 17th century showed that maggots came from fly eggs, not directly from decaying meat. Despite this, the idea of spontaneous generation persisted until Pasteur's swan-necked flask experiment in the 19th century, which demonstrated that microorganisms from air could be prevented from entering sterile broth, disproving spontaneous generation. Leeuwenhoek also provided evidence through microscopy that supported biogenesis over spontaneous generation.

Uploaded by

Patrick Go
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Biogenesis Theory
  • Anton van Leeuwenhoek
  • Louis Pasteur's Contributions
  • Illustration of the Experiment

BIOGENESIS THEORY

RUDOLF VIRCHOW

- He challenged the spontaneous generation with his concept of Biogenesis. Virchow defended
this concept to the scientific community but he did not come up with a convincing experiment
to back up his idea.

BIOGENESIS THEORY

- The theory of biogenesis states that life can only come from other life. This idea mirrors the
principles of Genesis 1: "life begets life and like begets like“. Living cells can arise only from pre-
existing living cells.

REDI’S EXPERIMENT

- He demonstrated that worms found on rotting meat originated from the eggs of flies, not
directly from the decaying meat as advocates of spontaneous generation believed. To prove this
he placed meat in three jars, one left uncovered, the second was covered with gauze and the
third was sealed. After a short period of time Redi observed that flies entered and laid eggs that
hatch maggots in the open jar, in the gauze-covered jar no flies entered, but they laid eggs on
the gauze that hatched maggots or eggs fell through the gauze and hatched on the meat but
there were no maggots on the meat of the sealed jar. Therefore Redi proved that decaying meat
did not produce maggots. - This was what they called the "Redi Experiment"
- Despite Redi’s compelling findings, the idea of spontaneous generation was still difficult to
totally disprove. One reason for this was that the gauze used by Redi could not prevent the
development of microorganisms (bacteria and mold) on the meat’s surface.
LOUIS PASTEUR

- He disproved the theory of Spontaneous Generation/Abiogenesis through his Swan-necked Flask


experiment. Pasteur’s work not only disproved abiogenesis but also offered guidance and
support to other researchers attempting to show that some diseases were caused by
microscopic life forms.
- Thus, in a simple but elegant set of experiments, Pasteur not only struck the doctrine of
spontaneous generation a “mortal blow” but also helped to establish the germ theory of
disease. This was a milestone in creation microbiology.
- The presence of airborne infection microorganisms was demonstrated by Pasteur in 1861 by
filtering the air which trapped the airborne microorganisms.

ANTON VAN LEEUWANHOEK

- New evidence by Leeuwenhoek helped to reveal that these microbes under the microscope
caused decay. In addition maggots, fleas, and the like formed by biogenesis not “spontaneous
generation.” It was Leeuwenhoek (not Redi) who proved that such insect creatures hatch from
eggs (as seen with his microscope).

- Creation “Magnified” Through His Magnificent Microscopes. Although Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
was not the inventor of the microscope, he advanced it more than anyone else for seeing living
things. He is the Father of Microscopy and also the Father of Microbiology.

- A Dutch tradesman and amateur microbiologist, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, observed small
organisms in dirty water and some material he scrapped from his teeth. These organisms were
called animalcules, what we call as protozoans today.

SWAN-NECKED FLASK EXPERIMENT

- Pasteur’s experiment demonstrated that sterile infusions would remain sterile in specially
constructed swan-necked flasks even when they were left open to the air. Gravity caused the
airborne organisms to settle in the bends and sides of these unique flasks. The fluid in the flask
remained sterile. Only when the flasks were tipped could bacteria enter the broth and grow, as
evidenced by forming a cloudy solution. These simple and elegant experiments finally ended
the arguments that unheated air or the infusions themselves contained a “vital force”
necessary for spontaneous generation.

You might also like