They co founded cell theory. In 1836/7 they showed that when air goes through red-hot glass tubes, or through sulphuric acid, the amount of oxygen stays the same but living th
…ings are killed. They passed this sterile air through boiled broth and nothing grew. then when they exposed the broth to normal air, moulds and microbes soon grew. By doing this they proved that the current theory of spontaneous generation was wrong. However, scientists claimed that they had destroyed something important in the air. ( spontaneous generation= the theory that living thing can be made by nonliving things (e.g. fish can be made from things in the river like mud)) (MORE) 
