Biohacking: do it yourself
The birthplace of biohacking is Silicon Valley, and its founder is physics graduate student Rob Carlson. Together with Nobel laureate biologist Sidney Brenner, they created the idea of independent scientific research in the field of molecular biology and genetic engineering. It quickly gained popularity, and its followers united into an open DIY-bio (do it yourself) community. The essence of biohacking is to turn people into “superheroes” by improving their bodies and minds with the help of the latest technologies.
However, so far, most biohackers are striving to improve their own bodies. For example, a resident of Silicon Valley, Sergei Fage, at the age of 32, has already spent 200 thousand dollars on biohacking, namely on the use of various smart pills – bio supplements, antidepressants and others, which are developed for him by a team of doctors from Stanford and Harvard. According to the experimenter, he was able to reduce the mass fraction of body fat from 26% to 10%, improve the performance of most biomarkers, become more energetic and focused.
Another biohacker, biochemist Gabriel Lisina, reported on his blog about the results of an experiment with his own eyes. For several months he was injected in his eyes with a type of chlorophyll (this substance is contained in the eyes of deep-sea fish, which are perfectly oriented in the dark). According to the report, the drug temporarily turned Gabriel’s vision into a night vision device – he could distinguish silhouettes of people at a distance of 50 meters at night.
The creation of the posthuman has already begun
Biohacking has many critics. Some consider this industry to be pure marketing, others fear the creation of biological weapons. Daria Loseva, geneticist, popularizer of biohacking in Ukraine, founder of CEO Myhelix, supports the safe ideas of this trend.
– The main goal of biohacking is to create posthumans of the future with abilities that are fundamentally different from those of modern humans,” says Daria Loseva. – For this purpose, biohackers are testing new achievements of genetic engineering, for example, injecting themselves with a muscle growth gene, implanting cyber eyes and chips under the skin. I am an advocate of non-traumatic biohacking – optimizing the work of the brain and body by selecting the optimal diet, treatment, and training based on genetic information.
In fact, this is what Myhelix, a personalized molecular research service, is doing. So far, its main LifeStyle biohacking area is nutrigenetics. On the basis of individual DNA tests, the service’s specialists help to determine the optimal menu for a person and correct eating habits. For example, the analysis of six key genes in the “My Diet” test gives hints as to which foods to pay attention to and which ones to avoid. There is a genetic test for vegetarians, an extended test of 40 genes for the whole family, etc.
Genetic analysis in CEO Myhelix is performed using a saliva sample, and its cost, depending on the selected test, varies from 700 to 7 thousand hryvnias.
It doesn’t hurt to be aware of weaknesses
Many experts doubt the seriousness of the predictions of genetic tests. For example, hereditary predisposition to diabetes, as to any other disease, is only a predisposition, it may or may not manifest itself. Should we scare people with gloomy prospects, program them to develop the disease, and severely restrict sweets?
– Genetics is an important investment in prevention and proper lifestyle,” says Daria Loseva. – Of course, genes influence the development of diseases only 25%, the remaining 75% are other factors: air quality, nutrition, stress. No one knows what will be the disease trigger, but if you are aware of your weaknesses, you can either prepare for a possible failure or prevent it.
