Also super appealing. Achieving this advancement will be our first step in exploring the universe. Seeing as we've as yet found no others, it falls on us to become the "precursors"

The prospect of getting older - now that I'm older - and running out of time, ability or mental sharpness has had a negative impact on me in the last couple years.
There are so many things I still want to do, try, and create. Some of which I have a lot of regrets that I haven't done yet. Some of which I fear I've grown too old to accomplish.

I'd really like to live a lot longer. Now, fear of death, running out of time and my body and mind degrading have established a firm purchase on part of my mind.

What I'd love to be able to do is survive the trip to another planet and spend a couple decades researching and exploring the local flora/fauna.

I agree that billionaires will own it but... advanced tools like the crispr are available to almost anyone today and as science progress is posted and talked about, I think there will be a lot of people that can duplicate the work.