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Jean Baptiste van Helmont (12 January 1579 – 30 December 1644)
By conducting experiments, Jean van Helmont concluded that mice could be created from a dirty soiled cloth. He placed grains of wheat and a dirty soiled cloth in a container and in 21 days mice appeared. He concluded with the fact that sweat caused wheat to ferment into mice which would be Abiogenesis/life form non-living matter. Therefore, Jean Baptiste accepted the idea of spontaneous generation, i.e. abiogenesis. -
Francesco Redi (February 18, 1626 – March 1, 1697)
Francesco Redi published his scientific masterpiece "Experiments on the Origins of Insects," a milestone in the history of modern science though which he attempted to disprove the theory of abiogenesis (life from non-living matter) and introduced new methods of experimentation. The famous quote "Omne vivum ex ovo" ("All life comes from an egg") reflects his research. He also attacked the idea of spontaneous regeneration by experimenting with rotten meat and maggots to prove his point. -
John Turberville Needham (10 September 1713 – 30 December 1781)
John Needham in 1745, reexamined the Abiogenesis Theory. He added chicken broth to a flask and allowed it to cool. Then after a few days, microbes did grow in the birth, and Needham proposed it as proof of spontaneous theory of generation. Needham did support spontaneous regeneration and claimed that vital life is needed for spontaneous generation of animal molecules. His claim was later challenged by Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1768. -
Lazzaro Spallanzani (10 January, 1729 – 12 February, 1799)
In 1768, Lazzaro Spallanzani, a Italian scientist, repeated Needham's experiment by using a slightly different protocol. Spallanzani removed all the air from the flask/sealed the flask causing no growth to occur. He proved that microbes were present in the air, and could be killed by boiling. Lazzaro Spallanzani did not believe in spontaneous generation or abiogenesis. It was not until Louis Pasteur's experiments on bacteria a century later that Spallanzani was proved right. -
Louis Pasteur (December 27, 1822 – September 28, 1895)
Louis Pasteur had conclusive evidence against the theory of spontaneous generation. For his experiment, he used a goose necked or swan necked flask. He boiled a solution of sugar and yeast for several hours. Then the flask was left unsealed for the free exchange of air with the outside environment.Louis Pasteur showed that life can arise only from preexisting life and the abiogenetic theory of life is not correct. This means that the present life forms can only come from preexisting life.
