Answer to Question #244863 in Microbiology for Muntaka Galadima

Question

Why was the belief in spontaneous generation an obstacle to the development of microbiology as a scientific discipline.

Answer 1

The believe that life can spontaneously emerge from non-living matter was an obstacle to the development of microbiology because scientists just declared existence of microbes without searching for mechanisms of transmission and reproduction. As a result both microbiology and medicine were held behind.