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Question

Van Helmont believed that mice originate from wheat grains and dirty clothes. He therefore favoured theory of

A
Biogenesis
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B
Spontaneous generation
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C
Pangenesis
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D
Cosmozoic
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Solution

The correct option is B Spontaneous generation
Jan Baptista van Helmont (1577-1644 A.D.) developed the scientific recipe for the generation of mice: one simply needed to wrap wheat kernels and cheese curds in a sweat-soaked shirt and leave the bundle in an open container for 20 days. Twenty days later, as a result of the combination of sweat and wheat, baby mice appeared. The idea of spontaneous generation became very popular and it was the popularity of the idea that kept many prominent scientists from seeing the error of their reasoning. Thus, option B is correct and other options are wrong.
The law of biogenesis, attributed to Louis Pasteur, is the observation that living things come only from other living things, by reproduction (e.g., a spider lays eggs, which develop into spiders). That is, life does not arise from non-living material, which was the position held by spontaneous generation. Thus, option A is wrong.
In 1868, Charles Darwin proposed Pangenesis, a developmental theory of heredity. He suggested that all cells in an organism are capable of shedding minute particles, he called them as gemmules, which are able to circulate throughout the body and finally congregate in the gonads. Thus, option C is wrong.
According to cosmozoic theory, life has reached this planet Earth from other heavenly bodies such as meteorites, in the form of highly resistance spores of some organisms. This idea was proposed by Richter in 1865 and supported by Arrhenius (1908) and other contemporary scientists. The theory did not gain any support. This theory lacks evidence, hence, it was discarded. Thus, option D is wrong.

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