Question

Explain the theory of biogenesis.

Answer 1

Hint: The term was coined by Henry Charlton Bastian, which means that living beings are produced only from other living organisms.

Complete answer:
The theory of Biogenesis is based on the idea that life can only come from life, and it refers to any process by which a lifeform can give rise to another lifeform. It is an important theory of biology and molecular genetics, which postulates the production of new living organisms from preexisting life. The term ‘biogenesis’ comes from ‘bio' meaning ‘life’, and ‘genesis' meaning ‘beginning’. Rudolph Virchow, in 1858, had come up with the hypothesis of biogenesis, but could not experimentally prove it.
In 1859, Louis Pasteur set up his demonstrative experiments to prove biogenesis right down to a bacterial level. By 1861, he succeeded in establishing biogenesis as a solid theory rather than a controversial hypothesis. He performed two experiments, where in both the flasks he added nutrient broth and boiled it to kill all the microbes then he left undisturbed and observed it. Next he broke the neck of the other flask after sterilization and kept it open in the air and observed after sometime that a cloudy microbial growth was formed which was absent in the above flask. His experiment proves spontaneous generation and also shows that from the non-living material the microbes cannot arise.
The theory of biogenesis states that living things are produced by living things other than what is shown in spontaneous theory. The origin of microorganisms was a major debate following their discovery in the 1670s by Antoine van Leeuwenhoek. It was not until the 1850s to 1860s, nearly 200 years later, that scientists came up with the theory that all living organisms have to come from other living organisms.
The simple example by which this theory can be explained is that of the chicken which lays eggs, these eggs then hatch and give rise to the new individuals which develop to form a baby chicken.

Note: The theory of biogenesis is different from abiogenesis. The theory of abiogenesis explains that life originated from inorganic matter. This theory was proposed by Oparin, Miller, and Urey. It is based on the observations and the hypothesis. The term biogenesis was coined by Henry Charlton Bastian to mean the generation of a life form from non-living materials.