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| a grouping of tissues into a distinct structure, as a heart or kidney in animals or a leaf or stamen in plants, that performs a specialized task |
| the continuous sequence of changes undergone by an organism from one primary form, as a gamete, to the development of the same form again |
| abiogenesis (ˌeɪbaɪəʊˈdʒɛnɪsɪs) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | Also called: autogenesis the hypothetical process by which living organisms first arose on earth from nonliving matter |
| 2. | another name for spontaneous generation Compare biogenesis |
| [C19: New Latin, from | |
| abioge'netic | |
| —adj | |
| abiogenist | |
| —n | |
| abiogenesis (ā'bī-ō-jěn'ĭ-sĭs) Pronunciation Key
See spontaneous generation. |
abiogenesis
the hypothetical process by which living organisms develop from nonliving matter; also, the archaic theory that utilizes this process to explain the origin of life. Pieces of cheese and bread wrapped in rags and left in a dark corner, for example, were thus thought to produce mice, according to this theory, because after several weeks, there were mice in the rags. Many believed in spontaneous generation because it explained such occurrences as the appearance of maggots on decaying meat.
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