View source for Law of biogenesis

The '''Law of biogenesis''' says that life only comes from life (in Latin: ''Omne vivum ex vivo'').

As long ago as [[ancient Greece]], people believed that small creatures spontaneously appeared, such as [[mouse|mice]] appearing from [[grain]], or [[maggot]]s from rotting [[meat]].
However, in 1668 [[Francesco Redi]] conducted experiments showing that maggots came from eggs laid on the meat by [[fly|flies]].

Nevertheless, many people continued to believe that microorganisms, such as [[microbe]]s, spontaneously generated.
This idea was put to rest with [[experimental science|experiments]] done by [[Louis Pasteur]] in 1864, and the ''law of biogenesis'' was born.

This law is put to the test every day, in the [[food preservation]] industry.
Food that is to be kept in good condition for an extended period of time is sealed in [[can]]s, [[bottle]]s, or other containers, and sterilised to kill any organisms that might be in it.
Because all life in the container has been killed, and because the container is sealed to prevent any microorganisms getting in, the food is kept in good condition.
The law is accepted so thoroughly that if a container is found to contain living organisms, investigators will look for a hole in the container, a failure to properly sterilise the food, or tampering.
They never conclude that the life in the container arose spontaneously.

Despite this law, many scientists believe that the ''first'' life arose from non-living matter. In proposing this, they speculate that although life has never been observed to spontaneously arise, it must have at some time in the past. Being a unique past event, the speculation cannot be tested or refuted, thus remaining an article of ''blind faith'' for those who reject the idea that life was created.

[[Creationism|Creationists]] and some [[theistic evolution]] proponents believe that the first [[biological]] life did not come from non-life, but from the living [[God]].

==See also==
* [[Origin of life]]
* [[Biogenesis]]
* [[Singularity#Biological singularity|Biological Singularity]]

== Sources ==
* [http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Law_of_biogenesis Law of Biogenesis] (Biology-Online.org).
* Menton, David M., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/2859/ The origin of life]
* De Witt, David A., [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/4194/ The Origin of Life: A Problem for Evolution]


[[Category:Biology]]