Louis Pasteur

A lot of people has had to contribute to the field of microbiology has we know it today. One of the mayor developments was the theory of biogenesis leading to the germ theory of disease. The theory of biogenesis stated that living cells can arise only from preexisting living cells. Before, the theory of biogenesis was accepted people believed in the theory of spontaneous generation. Which states that some forms of life could arise spontaneously from nonliving matter. People commonly thought that toads, snakes, and mice could be born of moist soil.

A French scientist by the name of Louis Pasteur disapproved the theory of spontaneous generation with his beef broth experiment. In his first experiment Pasteur pour beef broth into several flasks. He then boiled the contents and left some of the flasks open to cool down while some of the others were sealed. The flasks that were left open to cool down were found to be contaminated with microbes. The flasks that were sealed were found to be free of any microbes. In his next experiment Pasteur filled longneck flasks with beef broth but this time he heated the neck and curved it to an S-shaped. He then boiled the broth again and broth was left to cool down. He discovered that there were no microbes in the broth and that even after months there was no sign for microbes. This proved that microbes could be destroyed by heat and lead to the method of aseptic technique. This technique prevents the growth of microbes.