Faster Evolution?
 

open access article

"Varying environments can speed up evolution

"Nadav Kashtan, Elad Noor, and Uri Alon*

"Simulations of biological evolution, in which computers are used to evolve systems toward a goal, often require many generations to achieve even simple goals. It is therefore of interest to look for generic ways, compatible with natural conditions, in which evolution in simulations can be speeded. Here, we study the impact of temporally varying goals on the speed of evolution, defined as the number of generations needed for an initially random population to achieve a given goal. Using computer simulations, we find that evolution toward goals that change over time can, in certain cases, dramatically speed up evolution compared with evolution toward a fixed goal."

More at:
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/short/104/34/13711

JimB