BIO 3124 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Gerhard Domagk, Polysaccharide, Institute For Operations Research And The Management Sciences
Document Summary
In 300 bc, aristotle was the rst to hypothesize on the origins of life. He believed that living creatures are created spontaneously from non-living matter. He argued that life is not required to created life, based on his day-to-day observations. His belief remained unchallenged for over 2000 years. Ie. ooding of elds in the spring results in pools of water that generates frogs. Ie. meat left outside rots and generates ies. Ie. crops stored under damp conditions rot and generate mice. All that exists is the result of transformations. Life occurs spontaneously by transforming appropriate ingredients (spontaneous generation) In the 17th century, jan van helmont tried to prove aristotle right by creating a recipe. He did this by placing soiled underwear and wheat in an open container. After 21 days, he noted that the smell changes and the ferment from the underwear reacts with the wheat - transforming it into adult mice.
