Not everyone has the skill set to cure cancer.

1,000 labs spending $1M each to cure cancer would likely not progress as far as 10 labs spending $100M each.

Perfecting the techniques around genetic manipulation will likely indirectly help cure cancer.

Doing so on something that has public appeal (and little to no opposition) is less risky than doing it on an animal cell line.

Comparing the genetic engineering of this rose to curing cancer is about the same as comparing making a sandwich to running an international restaurant chain.