Question

Suppose Louis Pasteur’s experiment used three open-neck flasks and three swan-neck flasks. At the end of the experiment, what should Pasteur have concluded if all open-neck flasks and one swan-neck flask had growth, but two swan-neck flasks remained free of growth?

(a)There must have been a problem with one of the swan-neck flasks, such as a small break in the glass. The entire experiment should be repeated.

(b) Spontaneous generation is possible, and the no-growth flasks should be ignored.

(c)Spontaneous generation happens some of the time, but under mysterious conditions.

(d)There must be a difference between the three swan-neck flasks. Further studies should use new flasks if the difference between these flasks cannot be identified.

Answer 1

The correct answer is option a

Explanation: As two swan neck flasks contain no growth and only one swan neck flask had the microbial growth, then there must be some defect in that particular swan neck flask in which growth had occured. So he must repeat he experiments again with new flasks to reconfirm his findings that spontaneous generation of life is not possible. As two of the swan neck flasks showed no growth, it is not essential to replace them with new once. Only that swan neck flask which showed growth, must be replaced by a new one.