In recent papers, new data were presented on the late-age reproduction
experiment initiated by Luckinbill and Clare in 1981: when early- and
late-reproduced lines were compared simultaneously 10 years after the
end of the original experiment, differences in the mean life span are
observed between the lines. Yet the conditions in which these measure
ments were done are highly questionable. More fundamentally, using the
se data, the analysis of the selection process is impossible and concl
usions about the determinism of life span are debatable.