Comparison Chart

Biogenesis Abiogenesis

Examples Cell division; flies Spontaneous generation

developing from larvae;
baby mice created by
adult males and females
Experimental Yes, seen in the lab No, never observed
Evidence

Time period Mid-19th century to Early Greeks to mid-

present 19th century

Originator of the Louis Pasteur Aristotle

theory

Theory states that life Living things Non-living things

comes from

Biogenesis
Antoni van Leeuwenhoek’s work to improve microscope lenses in the mid-
1600s made it possible to see the living organisms in a drop of pond water,
furthering the understanding about where life comes from. In 1864, Louis
Pasteur conducted the first experiment that showed conclusively that living
things come from other living things. Pasteur created a flask that had a
“swan’s neck” shape. This design allowed the atmosphere to enter the flask
but prevented dust, bacteria and other particles from entering. He boiled
broth to sterilize it and divided it into two swan-necked flasks. As time went
on, Pasteur observed that nothing was growing in either flask. He then
removed the swan neck from one of the flasks. After several hours, a haze
developed in the broth, indicating that microbes were growing and
multiplying. The earliest forms of life on Earth were microorganisms, which
first appeared somewhere between 3.8 billion and 4.3 billion years ago.
These microorganisms may have formed in hot thermal vents in the
oceans.
Abiogenesis
Even before the time of the ancient Greeks, people thought that mice came
from straw, that rotting meat would transform directly into flies, and that
fleas were created from sand. Spontaneous generation is the term that was
used to describe the creation of life in this way. The Greek scientist and
philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE) was one of the earliest scientists to
describe a theory for abiogenesis, in which all life arose directly from
different combinations of earth, wind, fire and water. Although abiogenesis
has never been observed in the lab, some mechanism involving it was
likely involved in creating the simpler molecules (lipids, carbohydrates,
proteins, etc.) that were part of the beginning of life on Earth. One of the
challenges in developing scientific models around abiogenesis is explaining
how molecules formed into cells which became self-replicating. One theory
involves protocells, which are organized collections of lipids that form into a
spherical shape.

Jess Francis Licayan 9/11/19

Xl-MOTHERBOARD Earth Life and Sciences