Biogenesis

Biogenesis

The origin of life from pre-existing life is known as biogenesis. Francesco Redi (1621-1697) an Italian physiologist proposed the theory of biogenesis. This theory was also supported by Spallanzani (1729-1799) and Louis Pasteur (1822 - 1895). Louis Pasteur gave a death blow to abiogenesis by his experiment.
Louis Pasteur selected a swan necked flask for his experiments. The swan necked flask allowed the entry of air but not microbial particles. He boiled meat broth in this flask several hours and allowed the flask to remain unsealed for several days. No life was observed in the flask. After that the neck was broken and he allowed the contents of the flask into contact with atmosphere. Soon after he observed the presence of microorganisms in the flask. This could be explained by presuming that the air contains microorganisms which in the first case could not reach the contents of the flask and were retained in its curved neck, whereas in the second case these came in contact with the contents. From this experiment he concluded that the life could come only from pre-existing life. This is known as biogenesis.

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