[gore3000]

There is a possibility that digital emulations of living systems are a dead end

Actually the opposite is true. The likelihood is slim and none. Simulations depend on their usefullness by emulating known functionality. You cannot emulate what you do not know. Thus emulating from ignorance to knowledge is very unlikely if not impossible. Even on the slim chance that it proved correct though, one would not know if it was because there would be no way to verify its correctness.

[betty boop]

Simulations depend on their usefullness by emulating known functionality. You cannot emulate what you do not know. Thus emulating from ignorance to knowledge is very unlikely if not impossible. Even on the slim chance that it proved correct though, one would not know if it was [correct] because there would be no way to verify its correctness.

Very well and concisely put, gore3000. This is the problem in a nutshell, isn't it?