But here's the thing king... HOPE (false or otherwise) is a major component of the recovery process. If all those with cancer, AIDS, Spinal cord injuries etc... resigned themselves to the fact that it's gonna take years (if at all) to find a cure, then what's the point of fighting?

If we always take the reality pessimistic approach, and don't believe that we can find cures quickly, then we also run the risk of losing our brightest, most ambitious researchers to other pursuits. After all... why do I want to devote my life to finding a cure for AIDS when 'ol king says: "It aint gonna happen in your lifetime."

Edit:

Rory - Yes, it came from his earlier work studying a dead-virus cure for influenza, and from his work with the National Institute for Infantile Paralysis. I was merely using Salk as one example of someone who didn't just say "oh well... guess it's gonna take me a long while to develop this vaccine."