Q. Which one of the following experiments suggests that simplest living organisms could not have originated spontaneously from non-living matter ?
A) Microbes did not appear in stored meat
B) Larvae could appear in decaying organic matter
C) Microbes appeared from unsterilized organic matter
D) Meat was not spoiled, when heated and kept sealed in a vessel
Explanation
[Solution from source] When the material was heated (sterilised) and sealed off from outside microbes, it did not spoil. This shows that life comes from pre-existing life (Spallanzani/Pasteur-type experiments). Microbes appearing in unsterilised material is exactly what spontaneous generation was wrongly claimed to explain. Answer (4).
Reviewed by Dr. Abubacker
Physics Educator & NEET/JEE Specialist
Ph.D. in Physics with 19+ years of teaching experience.