> They are pristine. No changes.
I do not see that in the article.
> And the analogy is "good" in that programs don't mutate on their own.
Some do. Those meant to emulate the genetic process mutate quite nicely on their own.
They are talking about these regions
Analysis Uncovers Critical Stretches of Human Genome
Hundreds of stretches of DNA may be so critical to life's machinery that they have been “ultra-conserved” throughout hundreds of millions of years of evolution. Researchers have found precisely the same sequences in the genomes of humans, rats, and mice; sequences that are 95 to 99 percent identical to these can be found in the chicken and dog genomes, as well.
Those meant to emulate the genetic process mutate quite nicely on their own.
No, the data mutates, the actual programs remain the same.