I think it’s only a matter of time and how much money we through at the problem. When you think about it, with all the work that’s been done with stem cells so far, getting the proper DNA into a stem cell to not cause a cancer started by a viral vector is a relatively minor technical hurdle. Think about this: some of the first gene therapies were conducted back in the early 90s. (They didn’t go well, but the patients were dying anyway.) Our computing technology has doubled roughly 10 to 15 times since then. And will double again next year, and so on.

But hey, you never know when a game changer may come along – maybe nanotech will suddenly hit it’s stride and someone will invent a nanomachine that can repair DNA in situ and hunt/kill cancerous cells. This is complete wild speculation, I’m just saying that sometimes game changers come in that replace a very valid technology with something that just happens to do it way better. CRTs were a valid technology a few years back but good luck getting one today that isn’t made for some highly specialized function. CRTs were 50 years in the making, LCDs, what, 10, 20?

In any case, I look forward to living a good, long time – the kind of time that makes my grandparents seem like children to me. Hail Science!