Spontaneous generation rebuttal experiments

Francesco Redi's experiment

1668

It was thought that maggots arose spontaneously from rotten meat, so Redi put three identical jars, with the same type of meat, but only one of them was uncovered. The maggots were only born when the flies could reach the meat, in the other two jars, there were no maggots on the meat. The reason was that the recipients were closed and then not a single fly could enter the recipient. All the jars were summited to the same situations. Proving then that spontaneous generation was not a god theory.

Antonie's Microscopic Observations

1676

Van Leeuwenhoek, used single-lens microscopes, which he made, to make the first observations of bacteria and protozoa. His extensive research on the growth of small animals such as fleas, mussels, and eels provided evidence for the existence of tiny living organisms and refuted the concept of spontaneous generation.

Needham's Experiment

1743

In 1745, John Needham, an English naturalist along with a French naturalist, Comte de Buffom, attempted to prove once and for all the validity of spontaneous generation. Everyone knew that boiling killed microorganisms, so he proposed to test whether or not microorganisms appeared spontaneously after boiling. He boiled chicken broth, put it into a flask, sealed it, and waited. Microorganisms grew and he thought he had won the battle in support of spontaneous generation.

Spallanzani's experiment on microbial life.

1765

Spallanzani performed a series of experiments where he boiled nutrient broths in sealed flasks, effectively killing any existing microorganisms. He found that no growth of microorganisms occurred unless the flasks were exposed to air, refuting the theory of spontaneous generation and providing evidence that Needham's experiment was actually not correct due to the fact that he did not prevent the flasks from the air.

Rudolf's Cell Theory and Omnis cellula e cellula principle

1853

Virchow proposed the Cell Theory, stating that cells are the fundamental units of life and that all cells arise from preexisting cells. Cells are the primary notion of living. They rise and multiply and form the organisms, this is the basic cell theory. His principle: every cell comes from a cell, directly contradicted the idea of spontaneous generation and emphasized the importance of preexisting life in the generation of new cells.

Pasteur's Swan Neck Flask Experiment

1859

Pasteur designed a curved-neck flask that allowed air to enter but prevented dust particles from reaching the sterilized broth. He demonstrated that even after long periods, no growth of microorganisms occurred unless the flask was colocated to allow contamination. This experiment conclusively disproved the theory of spontaneous generation and supported the concept of life arises from preexisting life.

Tyndall's Dust Particles Experiment

1870

Tyndall dust particle experiments, demonstrated that dust particles in the air carried microorganisms. He showed that by removing these particles through filtration, microbial growth in a sterilized environment could be prevented. His experiments further discredited spontaneous generation and supported Spallanzani's Experiment on Microbial Life.