1859

1859. This is the year the Theory of Spontaneous Generation died and was reincarnated as the Theory of Evolution.

Maggots appeared on decaying meat. Mice came where there were grains. Fleas appeared in mattresses. The Theory of Spontaneous Generation was used to explain how these living things arose spontaneously from non-living matter. This may sound stupid to us but it was believed to be true. Even the microscope, which was already invented, proved that was true because under the microscope, you could see more and more small little creatures popping up on dead meat as the days went by, but you could not see where they came from. They got to be appearing spontaneously from the rotting meat, right?

In 1859, Louis Pasteur conducted an experiment to prove that life forms does not arise spontaneously. "To prove himself correct, Pasteur exposed boiled broths to air in swan-neck flask that contained a filter to prevent all particles from passing through to the growth medium, and even in flasks 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 for which Pasteur won the Alhumbert Prize in 1862. (from Wikipedia)".

Life begat life. The Theory of Spontaneous Generation died. But in the same year Darwin published his Theory of Evolution. While life begat life and evolved into multiple species, the ultimate original microbe had to arise spontaneously.

In another word, it is the Theory of Spontaneous Generation again, but pushed back into time, and with a new term, abiogenesis. Proving abiogenesis is more difficult, if not impossible, having to conduct scientific experiment in supposedly primeval conditions. And when the experiment failed, you can just blame the primeval conditions. Maybe the primeval conditions are not right.

We are now waiting for a new Louis Pasteur to conduct another experiment to prove again that only life can begat life, even in primeval conditions. A Nobel Prize may be waiting. Any takers?