[abandonliberty]

Curing cancer is on a similar complexity scale as fixing senescence/aging, and it is unlikely that we can solve one without the other. Cancer is the inevitable outcome of aging, if nothing else kills you.

It is a breakdown of the cooperation/altruism between cells that make you a multicelluar organism. We have several genetic programs designed to enforce cooperation, but cumulative damage in each cell over a lifetime eventually breaks all of them and generates 'independent' cells subject to natural selection, in our own bodies, with our DNA. All of our cells are cancerous, eventually.

Would you believe the claims as readily if he said he was going to stop aging? I would have to remind you that we don't even really know why we age.

It is fantastic and disconcerting that we are back in the age of wealthy patrons driving scientific discovery. I'm certain many discoveries and great art came from patrons who understood little about the field.