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Computational biology

Evolution plays dice

In computer simulations, initially identical populations of organisms growing in identical environments follow very different evolutionary trajectories. Mutational interdependence is a key factor.

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Figure 1: The population-divergence ratchet.

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Correspondence to Philip Gerrish.

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Gerrish, P. Evolution plays dice. Nature 420, 756–757 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/420756a

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