Origin of Life

Origin of Life
copyright cmassengale 1
Aristotle (384 –322 BC)
Proposed the theory of
spontaneous generation
Also called abiogenesis
Idea that living things can
arise from nonliving matter
Idea lasted almost 2000 years
Spontaneous Generation
For centuries, people based their
beliefs on their interpretations of
what they saw going on in the world
around them without testing their
ideas
They didn’t use the scientific
method to arrive at answers to their
questions
Their conclusions were based on
untested observations
Examples of
Spontaneous
Generation
Example #1
Observation: Every year in the
spring, the Nile River flooded
areas of Egypt along the river,
leaving behind nutrient-rich mud
that enabled the people to grow
that year’s crop of food.
However, along with the muddy
soil, large numbers of frogs
appeared that weren’t around in
drier times
Example #1
Conclusion: It was perfectly obvious
to people back then that muddy soil
gave rise to the frogs
Example #2
Observation: In many parts of
Europe, medieval farmers stored
grain in barns with thatched roofs
(like Shakespeare’s house). As a
roof aged, it was not uncommon
for it to start leaking. This could
lead to spoiled or moldy grain, and
of course there were lots of mice
around.
Example #2
Conclusion: It was obvious to
them that the mice came from
the moldy grain.
Example #3
Observation: In the cities centuries
ago, there were no sewers, no
garbage trucks, no electricity, and
no refrigeration. Sewage flowed
down the streets, and chamber pots
and left over food were thrown out
into the streets each morning. Many
cities also had major rat problems
and a disease called Bubonic plague.
Example #3
Conclusion: Obviously, all the
sewage and garbage turned into
the rats.
Example #4
Observation: Since there were no
refrigerators, the mandatory, daily
trip to the butcher shop, especially in
summer, meant battling the flies
around the carcasses. Typically,
carcasses were “hung by their heels,”
and customers selected which chunk
the butcher would carve off for
them.
Example #4
Conclusion: Obviously, the rotting meat that
had been hanging in the sun all day was the
source of the flies.
Abiogenesis Recipes
Recipe for bees:

Kill a young bull, and bury it
in an upright position so
that its horns protrude from
the ground. After a month,
a swarm of bees will fly out
of the corpse.
Abiogenesis Recipes
Recipe for mice:
Place a dirty shirt or some rags in an
open pot or barrel containing a few
grains of wheat or some wheat bran,
and in 21 days, mice will appear.
There will be adult males and
females present, and they will be
capable of mating and reproducing
more mice.
Disproving
Spontaneous
Generation
Francesco Redi (1668)
In 1668, Francesco Redi, an
Italian physician, did an
experiment with flies and wide-
mouth jars containing meat
Redi’s Experiment
Redi used open & closed
flasks which contained meat.
His hypothesis was that
rotten meat does not turn
into flies.
He observed these flasks to
see in which one(s) maggots
would develop.
Redi’s Findings
He found that if a flask was closed
with a lid so adult flies could not get
in, no maggots developed on the
rotting meat within.
In a flask without a lid, maggots soon
were seen in the meat because adult
flies had laid eggs and more adult
flies soon appeared.
Redi’s (1626-1697) Experiments
Evidence against spontaneous generation:
1. Unsealed – maggots on meat
2. Sealed – no maggots on meat
3. Gauze – few maggots on gauze, none on meat
Results of Redi’s Experiments
The results of this experiment

disproved the idea of
spontaneous generation for
larger organisms, but people
still thought microscopic
organisms like algae or
bacteria could arise that way.
Francesco Redi
Did Redi Use the
Scientific Method?
The Scientific Method
Observation
Hypothesis
Experiment
Accept, Reject, or Modify hypothesis
Step 1 - Observation
There were flies around meat
carcasses at the Butcher
shop.
Where do the flies come
from?
Does rotting meat turn into
or produce rotting flies?
Step 2 - Hypothesis
Rotten meat does not turn
into flies. Only flies can
make more flies.
Step 3 - Testing
Wide-mouth jars each containing a piece of meat
were subjected to several variations of
“openness” while all other variables were kept
the same.
Control group — These jars of meat were set out
without lids so the meat would be exposed to
whatever it might be in the butcher shop.
Experimental group(s) — One group of jars were
sealed with lids, and another group of jars had
gauze placed over them.
Step 4 - Data
Presence or absence of flies and
maggots observed in each jar was
recorded.
Control group – flies entered, laid
eggs, & maggots emerged
Gauze covered – flies on gauze, but
not in jar
Sealed jars – No maggots or flies
on the meat
Step 5 - Conclusion
Only flies can make more flies. In the uncovered
jars, flies entered and laid eggs on the meat.
Maggots hatched from these eggs and grew into
more adult flies. Adult flies laid eggs on the
gauze on the gauze-covered jars. These eggs or
the maggots from them dropped through the
gauze onto the meat. In the sealed jars, no
flies, maggots, nor eggs could enter, thus none
were seen in those jars. Maggots arose only
where flies were able to lay eggs. This
experiment disproved the idea of spontaneous
generation for larger organisms.
Disproving
Spontaneous
Generation of
Microbes
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1674)
Leeuwenhoek began making and looking through
simple microscopes
He often made a new microscope for each
specimen
He examined water and visualized tiny animals,
fungi, algae, and single celled protozoa;
“animalcules”
By end of 19th century, these organisms were
called microbes
Anton van Leeuwenhoek 1632-1723
Leeuwenhoek’s Microscope
John Needham (1745)
Showed that microorganisms
flourished in various soups that
had been exposed to the air
Claimed that there was a “life
force” present in the molecules
of all inorganic matter, including
air and the oxygen in it, that
could cause spontaneous
generation to occur
Needham’s Results
Needham’s experiments
seemed to support the idea
of spontaneous generation
People didn’t realize bacteria
were already present in
Needham’s soups
Needham didn’t boil long
enough to kill the microbes
Needham’s Experiment
Lazzaro Spallanzani’s (1765)
Boiled soups for almost an hour
and sealed containers by melting
the slender necks closed.
The soups remained clear.
Later, he broke the seals & the
soups became cloudy with
microbes.
Spallanzani’s Results
Conclusion
Critics said sealed vials did
not allow enough air for
organisms to survive and that
prolonged heating destroyed
“life force”
Therefore, spontaneous
generation remained the
theory of the time
The Theory
Finally Changes
How Do Microbes Arise?
By 1860, the debate had become so
heated that the Paris Academy of
Sciences offered a prize for any
experiments that would help resolve
this conflict
The prize was claimed in 1864 by
Louis Pasteur, as he published the
results of an experiment he did to
disproved spontaneous generation in
microscopic organisms
Louis Pasteur (1822-1895)
Pasteur's Problem
Hypothesis: Microbes come
from cells of organisms on dust
particles in the air; not the air
itself.
Pasteur put broth into several
special S-shaped flasks
Each flask was boiled and placed
at various locations
Pasteur's Experiment - Step 1
S-shaped Flask
Filled with broth
The special shaped was
intended to trap any
dust particles
containing bacteria
Flasks boiled
Microbes Killed
Flask left at various
locations
Did not turn cloudy
Microbes not found
Notice the dust that
collected in the neck of
the flask
Pasteur's Experimental Results
The Theory of Biogenesis
Pasteur’s S-shaped flask kept microbes
out but let air in.
Proved microbes only come from other
microbes (life from life) - biogenesis
copyright cmassengale Figure 1.3

48
Review
Evidence Pro and Con
1668: Francisco Redi filled six
jars with decaying meat.
Conditions: Results:
3 jars covered with fine No maggots
net
3 open jars Maggots appeared
From where did the maggots come?

What was the purpose of the sealed jars?
Spontaneous generation or biogenesis?
1745: John Needham put boiled
nutrient broth into covered flasks.
Nutrient broth Microbial growth
heated, then placed in
sealed flask
From where did the microbes come?
1765: Lazzaro Spallanzani boiled
nutrient solutions in flasks.
Nutrient broth No microbial
placed in flask, growth
heated, then
sealed
1861: Louis Pasteur demonstrated
that microorganisms are present in
the air.
Nutrient broth placed in Microbial growth
flask, heated, not sealed
Nutrient broth placed in No microbial growth

flask, heated, then
sealed

Origin of Life

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Origin of Life

Recipe for bees:

The results of this experiment

copyright cmassengale Figure 1.3

From where did the maggots come?

Nutrient broth placed in No microbial growth

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