Science Common Sense

1614 - What is the course of the debate on spontaneous generation versus abiogenesis?

Imagine a long discussion in history between scientists about how life started on Earth. There are two main ideas:

Spontaneous Generation: A long time ago, people thought that living things, like animals and plants, could magically appear from non-living things like dirt, rocks, or mud. They believed this happened all the time, and it was called "spontaneous generation."

Abiogenesis: But then scientists discovered that living things only come from other living things. This led to a new idea called "abiogenesis." It says that life started from non-living things like chemicals, but it happened a long, long time ago and only once. Then, all living things evolved from that first tiny life form.

Here's a brief timeline:

• 3000 BC: Spontaneous generation idea appears.
• 1668: Scientist Francesco Redi disproves spontaneous generation for some living things by showing that they only come from eggs or other living things.
• 1861: Louis Pasteur conducts experiments that show spontaneous generation is unlikely for any living thing.
• 1924: Scientist Alexander Oparin proposes the idea of abiogenesis, saying life started from non-living chemicals.

Today, scientists believe that abiogenesis is how life started on Earth, and spontaneous generation is not possible.