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Question

To disprove the theory of spontaneous origin of life, the nutritious broth in glass flasks was boiled and sealed. The bottle remained clear and sterile. Who was first to perform such and experiment?

A
Pasteur
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B
Lazzaro Spallanzani
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C
Oparin
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D
Francesco Redi
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Solution

The correct option is A Pasteur
Louis Pasteur's 1859 experiment is widely seen as having settled the question. In summary, Pasteur boiled a meat broth in a flask that had a long neck that curved downward, like a goose. The idea was that the bend in the neck prevented falling particles from reaching the broth, while still allowing the free flow of air. The flask remained free of growth for an extended period. When the flask was turned so that particles could fall down the bends, the broth quickly became clouded . In detail, Pasteur exposed boiled broths to air in vessels that contained a filter to prevent all particles from passing through to the growth medium, and even in vessels with no filter at all, with air being admitted via a long tortuous tube that would not allow dust particles to pass. Nothing grew in the broths unless the flasks were broken open, showing that the living organisms that grew in such broths came from outside, as spores on dust, rather than spontaneously generated within the broth. This was one of the last and most important experiments disproving the theory of spontaneous generation.



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