Let's go back in time. The year isn't really important but we should do it anyway. Howabout...489 (literally a random smacking of keys). It doesn't matter 1894, 1722, 179 whatever. You're now standing in that year with all of your pre-modern pals eating whatever was palatable at the time and chit-chatting about technology. "Oh yes" you say, "we've got it all". We can import sugar from anywhere in the world/We can control the flow of rivers/We can live to ripe old age of 40/insert something modern-for-the-time-here. Now we're back in 2005. We look back and say, "Big deal. Sure you could import sugar but we can grow our own that costs less than a dollar a pound--we're sure not paying a year's salary for a bag. Sure, you can control rivers but we can do so much more than just divert them into our fields. Sure, you can live to 40 but we're averaging almost twice that long now! You're not advanced!

We are fortunate enough to live in an era where the growth of technology is doubling every two years. If I want to talk to a friend in Manila I can get online, connect to a VoIP and bam--Imelda Marcos' shoes in no time. But like every other generation in the history of the world we're dillusional. We think we're going to see all of these remarkable things with stem cells in our lifetimes when that's not going to happen. And who knows what developments might arise within the next two generations that will be make it more/less controversial then? The point is that this is an inevitable course of action and we can either embrace it or deny it and possibly push it back another 20 years. No matter what it's not going to affect our treatments but think of your grandchildren. Or your cloned grand-children-puppies.