Dr. Molecool

"After seeing this, you wouldn't eat that cheesecake if I told you not to," Mills quips.

The calculations involved are Herculean, says Patz, but "Randy has worked out the mathematics. I'm convinced of that."

Illustration by Tom White

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Because the scanner would largely rely on existing hardware, "if someone like a General Electric were to get behind this, we could have a prototype in six months," Mills says.

Despite Mills's grand ambitions, he admits to being vexed by complexities in a genetic sequencer he envisions, and he dismisses dreams of immortality.

"Life is probably limited by arterial flow in the brain. Those vessels wear out. Maybe someone will find a way of drilling out and retubing them, but then they'll find something else. There's always a weak link."