Mimic

Hi.

What word/phrase could replace the underlined word in the following paragraph with the least change in meaning? Thanks.

While some researchers agree that the technical feat of the JCVI team is astounding, detractors point to the difficulty of creating more complicated organisms from scratch. Other researchers point to the fact that some biofuels are already being produced by microorganisms via the genetic engineering of only a handful of genes. And Dr. David Baltimore, a leading geneticist at CalTech, has countered the significance of the work performed by the JCVI research team, stating that its lead researcher, Dr. Venter, “… has not created life, only mimicked it.”