Who disproved spontaneous generation with flies?

Francesco Redi, an Italian physician, is credited with disproving spontaneous generation through his experiments with flies in the 17th century. He conducted a series of tests where he placed meat in jars, some covered with gauze and others left open. The jars that were open attracted flies, which laid eggs, while the covered jars did not show any signs of maggots, demonstrating that life did not arise spontaneously from decaying meat but rather from existing organisms. This was a pivotal moment in the shift towards understanding biological processes.