> what scientists have been saying out loud since the mid 90ies
Maybe when they speak privately, but every scientist has a huge fear of branded a crackpot if they said something even remotely like, "I'm researching the possibility that we can make immortal cells".
To take one concrete example, Geron, a company that is/was very active in this area was always careful to say that they are investigating telomerase to control cancers, etc. They never even hint that they might possibly be interested in the Holy Grail result of solving ageing.
Maybe when they speak privately, but every scientist has a huge fear of branded a crackpot if they said something even remotely like, "I'm researching the possibility that we can make immortal cells".
To take one concrete example, Geron, a company that is/was very active in this area was always careful to say that they are investigating telomerase to control cancers, etc. They never even hint that they might possibly be interested in the Holy Grail result of solving ageing.