Whether there is life out there or not if we don't destroy ourselves we will learn to fully exploit DNA and design all sorts of life to survive different environments and gradually populate our corner of the universe. Sadly it seems when lifeforms develop technology it rapidly uses up the resources of a planet and probably leads to extinction in most cases. witness what the over population of man is doing to this planet.
At this point in time we really don't know how difficult it is to reach another star or how far we will have to go to encounter life with technology. It could be something like 500 light years away so even early radio messages are still a long way off reaching that civilisation and it will need another 500 years for the reply to come back.
We may be using the wrong equipment anyway. Perhaps the communication system between stars is based on some sort of particle that travels faster than light speed that we have not yet comprehended.
At this point in time we are like cavemen trying to work out how to get to the moon. We are just missing too many answers and most of the right questions too.
