The Theory of Spontaneous Generation
The Greek philosopher Aristotle (384–322 BC) was one of the earliest recorded
scholars to articulate the theory of spontaneous generation, the notion that life can arise
from nonliving matter. Aristotle proposed that life arose from nonliving material if the
material contained pneuma (“vital heat”). As evidence, he noted several instances of the
appearance of animals from environments previously devoid of such animals, such as the
seemingly sudden appearance of fish in a new puddle of water.
This theory persisted into the seventeenth century, when scientists undertook
additional experimentation to support or disprove it. By this time, the proponents of the
theory cited how frogs simply seem to appear along the muddy banks of the Nile River in
Egypt during the annual flooding. Others observed that mice simply appeared among grain
stored in barns with thatched roofs. When the roof leaked and the grain molded, mice
appeared. Jan Baptista van Helmont, a seventeenth century Flemish scientist, proposed
that mice could arise from rags and wheat kernels left in an open container for 3 weeks. In
reality, such habitats provided ideal food sources and shelter for mouse populations to
flourish.
However, one of van Helmont’s contemporaries, Italian physician
Francesco Redi (1626–1697), performed an experiment in 1668 that was one of the first to
refute the idea that maggots (the larvae of flies) spontaneously generate on meat left out in
the open air. He predicted that preventing flies from having direct contact with the meat
would also prevent the appearance of maggots. Redi left meat in each of six containers
(Figure 1). Two were open to the air, two were covered with gauze, and two were tightly
sealed. His hypothesis was supported when maggots developed in the uncovered jars, but
no maggots appeared in either the gauze-covered or the tightly sealed jars. He concluded
that maggots could only form when flies were allowed to lay eggs in the meat, and that the
maggots were the offspring of flies, not the product of spontaneous generation.
Figure 1. Francesco Redi’s experimental setup consisted of an open container, a container sealed with a cork top,
and a container covered in mesh that let in air but not flies. Maggots only appeared on the meat in the open
container. However, maggots were also found on the gauze of the gauze-covered container.
In 1745, John Needham (1713–1781) published a report of his own experiments, in
which he briefly boiled broth infused with plant or animal matter, hoping to kill all
preexisting microbes.[2] He then sealed the flasks. After a few days, Needham observed that
the broth had become cloudy and a single drop contained numerous microscopic creatures.
He argued that the new microbes must have arisen spontaneously. In reality, however, he
likely did not boil the broth enough to kill all preexisting microbes.
Lazzaro Spallanzani (1729–1799) did not agree with Needham’s conclusions,
however, and performed hundreds of carefully executed experiments using heated broth.
[3]
As in Needham’s experiment, broth in sealed jars and unsealed jars was infused with
plant and animal matter. Spallanzani’s results contradicted the findings of Needham:
Heated but sealed flasks remained clear, without any signs of spontaneous growth, unless
the flasks were subsequently opened to the air. This suggested that microbes were
introduced into these flasks from the air. In response to Spallanzani’s findings, Needham
argued that life originates from a “life force” that was destroyed during Spallanzani’s
extended boiling. Any subsequent sealing of the flasks then prevented new life force from
entering and causing spontaneous generation (Figure 2).
Figure 2. (a) Francesco Redi, who demonstrated that maggots were the offspring of flies, not products of
spontaneous generation. (b) John Needham, who argued that microbes arose spontaneously in broth from a “life
force.” (c) Lazzaro Spallanzani, whose experiments with broth aimed to disprove those of Needham.
Disproving Spontaneous Generation
The debate over spontaneous generation continued well into the
nineteenth century, with scientists serving as proponents of both sides. To settle the
debate, the Paris Academy of Sciences offered a prize for resolution of the problem. Louis
Pasteur, a prominent French chemist who had been studying microbial fermentation and
the causes of wine spoilage, accepted the challenge. In 1858, Pasteur filtered air through a
gun-cotton filter and, upon microscopic examination of the cotton, found it full of
microorganisms, suggesting that the exposure of a broth to air was not introducing a “life
force” to the broth but rather airborne microorganisms.
Later, Pasteur made a series of flasks with long, twisted necks (“swan-neck” flasks),
in which he boiled broth to sterilize it (Figure 3). His design allowed air inside the flasks to
be exchanged with air from the outside, but prevented the introduction of any airborne
microorganisms, which would get caught in the twists and bends of the flasks’ necks. If a
life force besides the airborne microorganisms were responsible for microbial growth
within the sterilized flasks, it would have access to the broth, whereas the microorganisms
would not. He correctly predicted that sterilized broth in his swan-neck flasks would
remain sterile as long as the swan necks remained intact. However, should the necks be
broken, microorganisms would be introduced, contaminating the flasks and allowing
microbial growth within the broth.
Pasteur’s set of experiments irrefutably disproved the theory of spontaneous
generation and earned him the prestigious Alhumbert Prize from the Paris Academy of
Sciences in 1862. In a subsequent lecture in 1864, Pasteur articulated “Omne vivum ex vivo”
(“Life only comes from life”). In this lecture, Pasteur recounted his famous swan-neck flask
experiment, stating that “life is a germ and a germ is life. Never will the doctrine of
spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow of this simple experiment.” [4] To
Pasteur’s credit, it never has.
Figure 3. (a) French scientist Louis Pasteur, who definitively refuted the long-disputed theory of spontaneous
generation. (b) The unique swan-neck feature of the flasks used in Pasteur’s experiment allowed air to enter the
flask but prevented the entry of bacterial and fungal spores. (c) Pasteur’s experiment consisted of two parts. In the
first part, the broth in the flask was boiled to sterilize it. When this broth was cooled, it remained free of
contamination. In the second part of the experiment, the flask was boiled and then the neck was broken off. The
broth in this flask became contaminated. (credit b: modification of work by “Wellcome Images”/Wikimedia
Commons)
REFERENCE:[Link]
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