Concept explainers
How did Louis Pasteur help disprove spontaneous generation?
To review:
The contribution made by Louis Pasteur to disapprove spontaneous generation.
Introduction:
The spontaneous generation refers to an obsolete thought of the process of generation of living organisms from the non-living or sterile matter.
Explanation of Solution
The idea of spontaneous generation was challenged by many scientists. In 1861, Louis Pasteur performed some experiments to disapprove belief of spontaneous generation of living organisms from the sterile or nonliving materials. He demonstrated presence of microorganisms in the air by trapping microbes on passing air from the cotton plug. After that, he investigated trapped organisms and later cultured those microbes by dipping cotton plug in a sterile broth (solution containing all growth nutrients).
He also performed an important scientific experiment with a self-constructed swan-necked flask filled with a sterile broth. He demonstrated that sterile broth remained sterile even when flask was left open for years. This is so as the microorganisms present in the air settled down at the bends of the flask’s necks and did not reach broth to grow. But as soon as the flask was tilted, the broth reached the settled microbes and their growth was observed.
Therefore, these experiments of Pasteur led to the exemption of the idea of spontaneous generation. The concept of biogenesis, that is, origin of living things from other living things, came into light.
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Chapter 1 Solutions
Nester's Microbiology: A Human Perspective
- What does the theory of spontaneous generation propose? How did Pasteur, Tyndall, and Cohn finally settle the spontaneous generation controversy?arrow_forwardWhy was the Pasteur Institute originally founded?arrow_forwardBesides ending the controversy over spontaneous generation,what other accomplishments do we credit to Pasteur?arrow_forward
- Describe the experiments Pasteur used to disprove theidea of spontaneous generationarrow_forwardWhat are the control group in the swan neck experiment of Pasteur and what did it show?arrow_forwardWhy Loius Pasteur, Robert Hooke, and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek are the important persons in the field of Microbiology? What are their individual contributions?arrow_forward
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