Mice that are born from a shirt

Philosophers from ancient Greece believed that life was contained in matter itself and when conditions were favourable it would appear spontaneously.
Aristotle synthesized in one of his theories all the ideas on spontaneous generation by the philosophers that came before him.
According to the great philosopher, living beings are born from similar organisms, but sometimes they can also be generated from inert matter. All things, in fact, have a “passive element” which is their matter and an “active element” which is their shape, meaning a sort of inner force which gives the matter its shape.
For example, clay is a nonliving matter that has an active element which enables it to shape inert matter into a living being, such as for example a worm or a frog.
The spontaneous generation theory was supported by famous scientists such as Newton, Descartes and Bacon and in 1500 there were people who still believed that geese were born from certain trees that lived in contact with the ocean and that lambs were generated inside melons.
The first experiments to prove the spontaneous generation theory were done in the XVII century and a doctor called Jean Baptiste Van Helmont declared he had performed a unique experiment: he placed a dirty shirt together with some wheat and according to him, mice were born 21 days later. According to the Doctor the sweat in the shirt was the active element which gave life to the inert matter.

 
Download "The Beginning of life" pdf file
Download the junior version pdf file
 

Special reports

From the Multimedia section

Facts

  • Life from space

    According to some scientists life has always existed in the Universe just like the Universe...

    Clonation and Future

    The ability to give life to identical organisms, called clonation...

    Strong insects

    Many insects, despite their dimensions, are a lot stronger than...

  • Hydrogen from biomass

    Hydrogen is an energy carrier that allows to generate energy in an environmentally sustainable way...

    Bio-luminescence

    Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...

    Bacteria as miners

    The ability of chemoautotrophic bacteria to take energy from...

  • Bacteria as detergents

    Enzymes are proteins produced by the cells of all living organisms...

    Bacteria as Sherlock Holmes

    A drop of blood, a fragment of skin or a hair found on the scene of a crime can supply…

    High-fashion bacteria

    Some bacteria, the Clostridia, were used to make textile fibres...

  • 13 May 2011

    Life from space

    According to some scientists life has always existed in the Universe just like the Universe...

    Clonation and Future

    The ability to give life to identical organisms, called clonation...

  • Strong insects

    Many insects, despite their dimensions, are a lot stronger than...

    16 May 2011

    Hydrogen from biomass

    Hydrogen is an energy carrier that allows to generate energy in an environmentally sustainable way...

  • 13 May 2011

    Bio-luminescence

    Many sea animals, including a lot of fish and molluscs that live in the dark in the ocean depths...

    Bacteria as miners

    The ability of chemoautotrophic bacteria to take energy from...

  • Life from space

    According to some scientists life has always existed in the Universe just like the Universe...

  • Clonation and Future

    The ability to give life to identical organisms, called clonation...

  • Strong insects

    Many insects, despite their dimensions, are a lot stronger than...