From: bivalve (firstname.lastname@example.org) Date: Wed May 07
2003 - 14:07:23 EDT The latest Nature has an article on modeling
the favorite issues of ID: RICHARD E. LENSKI, CHARLES OFRIA,
ROBERT T. PENNOCK & CHRISTOPH ADAMI. 2003. The evolutionary
origin of complex features. Nature 423, 139 – 144. Abstract: A
long-standing challenge to evolutionary theory has been whether
it can explain the origin of complex organismal features. We
examined this issue using digital organisms—computer programs
that self-replicate, mutate, compete and evolve. Populations of
digital organisms often evolved the ability to perform complex
logic functions requiring the coordinated execution of many
genomic instructions. Complex functions evolved by building on
simpler functions that had evolved earlier, provided that these
were also selectively favoured. However, no particular
intermediate stage was essential for evolving complex functions.
The first genotypes able to perform complex functions differed
from their non-performing p