What happens when you put evolution on replay? (opens in new tab)

The title reminds of Tierra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tierra_(computer_simulation) It is astonishing. After Ray have cobbled together the best self replicating program he could and launched the simulation, all the familiar patterns emerged, including shorter programs than Ray could write, sexual reproduction, parasites ... It's one of the best demonstration of evolution I am aware of but the interpretation of it is not easy alas.

For those arguing about the role of determinism (or lack of it) in evolution, I just finished and highly recommend the new book Improbable Destinies by Jonathan Losos. It covers both sides of the debate (sort of set up as "Stephen Jay Gould" vs "Simon Conway Morris") and gets you up to speed on all the latest fascinating stuff revealed by genome sequencing. There's a lot more to the topic than you might expect if you haven't been following the last few years.

I feel like this article is pretty misleading in terms of the context and significance of the research. Inserting ancestral genes in extant organisms is a well-accepted approach to studying evolution. Evolution happens because of environmental pressure and random luck (mutations). There's no deterministic factor of evolution, and it's weird that the article tries to present it that way.

If anyone is interested in arguments about winding back the clock and replaying evolution, I highly recommended Stephen Jay Gould's "Wonderful Life."