Bio 205 Essay 1

1. How did the theory of biogenesis lead the way for the germ theory of disease?

Answer below:

The theory of biogenesis began with a German scientist Rudolf Virchow who wanted to put the idea of spontaneous generation to the test. The French scientist Louis Pasteur picked up on this idea and decided to continue the research on spontaneous generation. He did this by placing beef broth into two separated containers after being boiled. Some containers were left unsealed, and others were sealed. When he checked both broths for microbes he discovered that the unsealed container were contaminated with microbes whereas the seal container had none. This led to further inquiry and testing from Pasteur. He tried the experiment again however he used a S-shaped flask. He boiled the broth and came back to find no microbes in the broth however he found some on the walls of the flask in the curves of the “S”. Through these series of tests, he proved that microbes can travel through the air. This was the Theory of Biogenesis: cells can only come from cells existing before then.

These tests disproved spontaneous generation and eventually led to the theory of disease. Now knowing that microbes have very covert ways of getting around some started to wonder if disease wasn’t necessarily divine punishment, but an unknown invasion of microbes. This concept was the Germ Theory of Disease. This theory stated that perhaps microorganisms were the cause of disease, sourced from other organisms such as plants, animals, and fungi. It was these ideas that led to the use of aseptic techniques. Through sterilization like chemical baths and heating treatments of certain medical instruments, the aseptic techniques helped prevent disease from spreading.

During this time, it was hard to convince the world of how correct the Germ Theory of Disease just was since most answers involved religion or superstition. An interesting addition to the theory was made by an English Surgeon by the name...