What is the hypothesis stating that life could arise from nonliving matter?

• A. Panspermia
• B. Biogenesis
• C. Abiogenesis
• D. Spontaneous Generation

Answer: (D)

Life arising from nonliving matter is described by spontaneous generation, a historical idea that organisms could appear from inanimate substrates under the right conditions. This view was widely taught in the past, but careful experiments showed that life comes from existing life, not from nonliving matter on its own. In modern science, abiogenesis is the term used for the origin of life from nonliving matter on the early Earth, but the wording of this question matches the older concept of spontaneous generation. The other ideas refer to different notions: life from existing life (biogenesis), life originating from space (panspermia), or the modern description of life's origin in prebiotic Earth conditions (abiogenesis).