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The Evolution of Primitive Biological Systems
"Darwinian selection and evolution can, thus, be characterized by an extreme principle. It defines a category of behavior of self-replicating entities under stated selection constraints."
(Eigen and Schuster, 1977)
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Dr. Marcel Thuerk, a student of Professor Manfred Eigen, a Nobel Prize Laureate for Physical Chemistry, was challenged to model molecular evolution using computer programs. He then developed a model based on computer programs or algorithms, which would execute in a virtual reaction vessel. These algorithms were capable of recognizing each other before they would process and modify each others source code. This was accomplished by categorizing the code into different regions i.e. program and recognition code. The model did not differentiate between data and programs since it was all the same. The self-organizing inter-processing units of algorithms started to evolve and soon developed primitive virtual life forms.
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