I think the key point is this: "Dr. King and colleagues gave Adam a database containing information on the enzymes, the chemicals and reagents to do the experim

I think the key point is this: "Dr. King and colleagues gave Adam a database containing information on the enzymes, the chemicals and reagents to do the experiments, and access to the yeast cultures." I imagine it would have taken a really, really smart robot about 300 years to figure that stuff out on its own. And only IF it had a reason to figure it out. Not AI ... just another Expert System. Doing exactly what it's told to, efficiently.