Spontaneous generation of living organisms-life arising without progenitor or seed-was a common belief in the time of Aristotle.
From recently acquired insights into the complexity of the simplest organisms, Tan and Stadler specify requirements for spontaneous formation of life and evaluate the prospects for natural proces.
Over the next two thousand years, support for spontaneous generation slowly retreated to its final stronghold: spontaneous formation of the first living organism.
Spontaneous generation of living organisms-life arising without progenitor or seed-was a common belief in the time of Aristotle