Spontaneous generation (abiogenesis) is the mistaken hypothesis that living organisms are capable of being generated from non-living things. Mankind for many centuries (even till the time of Aristotle in 4th century BC) previously believed that non-living things such as meat and even decaying organic matter can generate living things (e.g. maggot). The belief that life […]
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General Microbiology
Francesco Redi, an Italian scientist was the first scientist to challenge the theory of spontaneous generation by demonstrating that living organisms did not actually originate from non-living things. He developed a scientific experiment to test the spontaneous creation of maggots from fresh meats using two jars (one of the jars was left open while the
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General Microbiology
John Needham is the English scientist who performed experiments on spontaneous generation or abiogenesis in mutton broth and hay infusions. Needham showed that mutton broth boiled in flask and then sealed could still develop microorganisms, which supported the theory of spontaneous generation. He took hot boiling mutton gravy (meat infusion) in a flask and closed
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General Microbiology