Tom's a pretty smart guy.
And when it comes to rockets, I tend to listen. His knowledge of genetics and the rapid advances being made in the field isn't quiet as spot on. Experiments "around the edges" as you put it are being done now, but what I'm talking about is still a several decades off. We must first learn the basic rules of genetic grammer before we can write any epic poems, but I'm telling you, our understanding is growing at a far faster rate than you think.