Multiple choice

Which of the following was led to believe, from his experimental data, that Spontaneous Generation occurred?

  1. Joseph Lister

  2. Louis Pasteur

  3. John Needham

  4. Jonas Salk

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

In 1745, John Needham boiled mutton broth and sealed the flasks, but microbes still grew because he did not heat them enough to kill endospores or seal them properly. This led him to mistakenly conclude that organic matter possessed a "vital force" that could produce life spontaneously.