This article is from the public number: neural reality (ID: neureality) , author: Sigal Samuel, author of “When the Future is Complete” on the Vox website, translation: Ji Huanhuan, title picture: The movie “Mechanical Girl”
You may never have heard of the term “biohacker”, but you may have been exposed to some kind of interpretation of it: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (Jack Dorsey) praises intermittent fasting and drinks” brine juice “every morning; former NASA employee Josiah Zana (Josiah Zayner ) Inject CRISPR-edited genes into the body; a new trend for people in the San Francisco Bay Area-“Dopamine withdrawal”.
It is also possible that you, like me, have a colleague with a chip in the palm of your hand.
A chip in the palm of your hand
Image source: Vox
These are all types of biohackers, it is a broad meaningCi has become popular not only in Silicon Valley, but also in other places.
Biological hacking, also known as “DIY biology”, is rich in content and has no fixed meaning. Many things can be called biological hacking. Or other biological tissues to track sleep and diet, to put young people’s blood into the body, full of hope to keep the youth forever Also known as “young blood perfusion”, let’s talk about this later] , these behaviors belong to the category of biological hacking.
The most criticized biohackers are people who do not conduct experiments in traditional laboratories or research institutes. Their research objects are their own bodies. They are enthusiastic about enhancing body movement or cognitive performance, and even Also formed a branch of “transhumanism” (transhumanism) (super Humanism believes that human beings are capable and should use technology to strengthen and improve themselves) .
Some biohackers have an orthodox Ph.D., and some are completely from the wild. The “hacking behavior” of hackers is as diverse as flowers, and the endless hacking methods, how they are different from traditional medicine, and whether they are safe or legal are all tricky issues.
As biohackers appear on the media more and more frequently—it just so happened that a recent episode of Netflix ’s “Sport Competition” Unnatural Selection) -its basic knowledge is worth exploring. Here are 9 questions about biohacking.
First, what exactly is a biohacker? What are some common examples?
The answer depends on who you ask, you may hear different definitions of biohackers. This is because the connotation of biohackers is too rich, and too many and too many exploration directions are included in it. I prefer to think of biohackers as an attempt to manipulate the brain and body to optimize their performance, and they are not part of traditional medicine. But later I will introduce some other typesBioshack (Some biohacks can portray quite incredible art) .
Dave Asprey (Dave Asprey) is a bio-hacker and the founder of the health product company Bulletproof. He told me that biohacking is “changing the external environment and the internal art and science, and ultimately achieving complete control of himself”. He expects to live to be at least 180 years old, and has put into practice many things: injecting stem cells into joints, ingesting dozens of health products daily, bathing in infrared light and so on.
Aspre often likes to say a word-control, which is also the mantra of many other biological hackers. They often talk about how to “optimize” and “upgrade” their spirit and body .
Some of the techniques used by biohackers have been circulating for hundreds of years, such as Vipassana meditation and intermittent fasting. Dorsey talked about both in a podcast interview, and both have become part of him. Rules of life. He does his best to do two hours of meditation every day, only eats dinner every day on weekdays, and fasts completely on weekends. (Some critics think his eating habits are some kind of eating disorder, I ’m worried that this may inadvertently cause others to follow suit) , and walk 8 kilometers every morning to Twitter Headquarters to work before going to work. (ice bath) .
Tonic is another popular weapon in the biological hacker ammunition depot. From anti-aging supplements to nootropics, or “smart drugs,” they all take them.
Because biohackers want to quantify every aspect of themselves, such as tracking their sleep patterns, they often like to buy some wearable devices. (Dorsi Oura ring was planted to track sleep) . The more physical data you acquire, the better you can optimize your performance.
There are also some more aggressive hacks: cryotherapy (artificially cooling) , neurofeedback therapy (Automated brain wave control through training) , NIR saunas (They consider transmission The electromagnetic waves coming from it can be decompressed) , and a virtual floating capsule (in a meditation state in a deprived environment) means. Some people spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for these therapies.
A small number of biohackers are called “grinders (grinders) ” because they even implant biochips into the body! The implanted chip gives them a lot of “super powers”, from automatic door opening without a key to monitoring subcutaneous blood glucose levels!
For grinders, such as Zoltan Istvan (Zoltan Istvan) (elected as president of the Transhumanist Party as president) < / span>, having an implant is both fun and convenient: “I already enjoy and rely on this technology,” he wrote recently in the New York Times. “The electronic lock on my front door has a scan Instrument, I do n’t even need a key when I go surfing or jogging! “
Image source: Roberta Lancia
Ishtwan also said, “For some people with disabilities in the arm, how to open the door or use household appliances? It is the simplest and direct way to transform these things into readable chips and implant the chips into their feet. “The grinders are extremely interested in breaking the boundaries between machines and humans. Beyond all the currently available ways to strengthen flesh and blood, the way implanted chips excite them. But for themIn terms of implanting chips, it’s just an appetizer for hacking.
Why do biohackers do this? What is the motivation behind it?
Basically, what biohackers do is something that is relevant to everyone: how far can we develop our bodies if we want to become better. This desire is reflected in many hobbies or ideas. For example, some people just want to stop being sick, others want to be as smart and strong as possible, and of course there are some ambitious biological hackers who want to reach the limit of being smart and strong. In other words, they are frantically impacting their life limitations.
The goal of biohackers is gradually becoming aggressive. Once you are determined to become a biological hacker, take up the “hacking weapon” in your hand, restore health from the weak body in a blink of an eye, or further strengthen your body, after experiencing the magical transformation, you will start thinking: Awesome! Why stop there? Why not step up to the top? Why not try to achieve eternal life? At the beginning you may simply want to get rid of the current pain, and slowly, your desire will become dependent on steroids for self-improvement.
Asprey did. He is now in his forties, and the reason he became a bio-hacker was that he was not healthy. Before the age of 30, he was diagnosed as having a high risk of stroke and heart disease, and had cognitive dysfunction. He would weigh 136 kg. “I was just trying to control my body, because I was tired of struggling with pain and fluctuating emotions,” he said.
He feels healthier now, and starts to think about how to slow down aging and optimize every aspect of himself. “I don’t want to stop being healthy. This goal is too mediocre. I want to go one step further. I’m not thinking about ‘how do I become healthy?’, But ‘how can I be extraordinary?'”
Zana is a biological hacker who has injected CRISPR-edited DNA into the body. He also had health problems many years ago. Many of his hacking actions are indeed attempts to heal himself. But he also had some motivations stemming from the setbacks he suffered.
Like some other biohackers, Zana also has an anti-authoritative tendency, and he is dissatisfied with rumors that the federal authorities have delayed approval of various medical treatments. In the United States, it may take up to 10 years to develop and approve a new drug. For people with severe illness, 10 years is really cruel and extremely long. Therefore, Zana called for the democratization of science and permission People can apply science and technology to themselves.
(However, Zana admits that some of his hacking activities are intentional for compelling reasons, “I will also do some ridiculous things, my motivation It ’s not always 100% purely public. ”
A schematic diagram of a hemisphere embedded in a chip
Image source: Getty Images
The community of biohackers has a similar ideology: community communities. Communities provide people with a class-neutral environment to explore ideas that are different from traditional ones, thus regenerating a cool sense of identity outside the mainstream environment of society. Biohackers come together in a specific place online, such as discussion groups on Slack and WhatApp-such as WeFast, a gathering place for intermittent fasters. Offline, they conduct hacking experiments, and take classes at the “hacking laboratory” (improvised and open to the public) Dozens of biohacking conferences.
How is the behavior of biohackers different from traditional medicine? What kind of things can become the pursuit of biohackers?
Some types of biological hacking are very different from traditional medicine, but others are closely related to it.
Many long-established technologies, such as meditation and fasting, are elementary biological hacking behaviors, but taking a spinning class or taking antidepressants can achieve similar results.
The criterion for judging a biohacker’s behavior is not to see if it is different, but to the inner spiritual concept. The underlying philosophy of biohackers is: we do n’t need to acceptWe can use a large number of highly sophisticated or widely popular technologies to transform ourselves. For the gold standards in traditional medicine to test the reliability of research, such as double-blindness, the principle of randomness, and the establishment of a placebo control group, they cannot be a reason to use a technology later. Change yourself and start immediately.
Millionaire Sergey Fagut (Serge Faguet) is a biological hacker who seeks immortality, as he said: ” People in Silicon Valley are full of technology and think of everything as an engineering problem. Many people who do n’t have similar technical ideas will think ‘Hey, people will die.’ But I think that once certain facts happen, biological The hacker’s consciousness will become clearer in our heads. “
Rob Carlson (Rob Carlson) is a synthetic biologist. From the beginning of the 21st century, he has been a champion of biohackers “Modern medicine is itself a kind of hacking,” but people often refer to a specific group of people as “biological hackers,” as a hint that their actions are illegal. “This is the classification of people. For example, there will be words like: ‘It’s strange to see what these biohackers do.’ This kind of phenomenon actually reflects higher-level social issues: who is really qualified to go Do anything? Why are some people banned from exploring new behaviors and discussing in public spaces? “
If we push the idea of ”who is really qualified to do anything?” to some extreme, it will lose scientific knowledge’s legal status and endanger public health. Fortunately, in general, biological hackers don’t want to make the status of scientific knowledge so awkward. They just want to be close to and exposed to scientific discoveries. Don’t let them stand by because they don’t have a PhD.
So how much scientific evidence is behind all this?
Some biological hacking behaviors have strong scientific support, which may be a beneficial behavior in itself. Some hacking has gone through centuries of trial and error. For example, clinical trials have proven that mindfulness meditation helps reduce anxiety and chronic pain.
But there are also some hackers whose actions lack strong or complete scientific evidence, and ultimately either are invalid or harmful.
Near infrared in DorseyAfter the sauna endorsement, the equipment company Sauna Space increased its orders. They claimed that the product enhanced the cell regeneration ability by promoting detoxification of the body, and at the same time anti-aging. But according to the New York Times, “Although a study of middle-aged and elderly Finnish men has shown that their health benefits from saunas, for this near-infrared sauna (Direct illumination of the body with incandescent lamps) , and extensive research is lacking.” So, buying this expensive near infrared sauna product can improve health? The conclusion is unclear.
Similarly, intermittent fasting that Dorsey admires may be effective for some people, but scientists still have many questions. Although there are many long-term benefits of fasting in animals, and many of these results are even more promising, there is still insufficient research support in humans. Fasting has entered the public eye, but because its practice is faster than scientific evidence, “practice requires caution.” Critics have pointed out that for those who already have an eating disorder, fasting can be a dangerous move.
Dave Aspre and his “bulletproof food” slogan
Image source: mindbodygreen.com
My colleague, Julia Belluz, on the topic of health products for biohackers, (Julia Belluz) has reported Asp Ray advocated a bullet-proof diet, she said: “Aspre doesn’t look at healthy food, and he believes that to achieve the” one-pound-a-day “weight loss goal, buy his expensive,” scientific-based “bullet-proof diet Would be very helpful. “Also, she doesn’t think Aspley’s scientific literature citations about her speech are credible enough:
I found that Aspley ’s literature citations consist of carefully selected literature, including many othersClass-agnostic bad research. He would take the research that supports his argument and ignore the research that contradicts it.
Some of these studies have only been performed in rats and mice and have not been validated in humans. Earlier studies on animals, especially those with complex ingredients such as health products, have never been inferred to humans. Aspley beautified coconut oil, stigmatized olive oil, and ignored a large number of randomized trials that have proved the health benefits of olive oil. (randomness guarantee The highest reliability of the evidence) . In addition, some of the studies he cited only targeted specific small groups, such as people with diabetes, or included only a small number of people. Its research conclusions cannot be applied recklessly to the general public.
All of the above biological hacking sounds like it may be pushed to the extreme. What is the most dangerous biological hacking that has been tried?
Some extremely dangerous biohacking comes from desperate people. To a certain extent, we are understandable. If you are ill and have more pain, or you are dying, afraid of death, and traditional medicine is helpless, there is no way to ease your pain. At this time, who will blame you for seeking hope through other channels?
But there are some seemingly last hopes, but they are extremely dangerous attempts, but they are not worth the risk at all.
If you have watched HBO’s “Silicon Valley”, you will know what is young blood perfusion therapy. In this therapy, young people’s blood is seen as a tonic that restores vitality. Older people pay for young people’s blood and then infuse it into their veins to fight aging.
This hypothetical therapy in the play always sounds like a vampire, but it has become popular in the real Silicon Valley. In the experiment, each plasma osmotic pressure was (POP) is priced at $ 8,000. Peter Thiel, a billionaire and technology investor, has a strong interest in this [Peter Pan] .
As Chavie Lieber (Chavie Lieber,Deep reporter) said that although limited research has shown that this perfusion therapy may help fight diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, and multiple sclerosis, none have been proven .
In February 2019, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a statement reminding consumers to stay away from perfusion therapy: ” To put it simply, we noticed that some patients were bewildered by some unscrupulous marketers, arguing that their touted plasma derived from young people can cure the disease. Clinics using this type of therapy have not proven its clinical efficacy, so this type of therapy exists Potential harm. “
Other biological hacking activities also belong to the category of “never try at home”: for example, excreta transplantation, that is, transferring and injecting the feces of healthy people into the gastrointestinal tract of patients. In 2016, due to severe stomach pains, Zana decided to give herself a stool transplant in a hotel room. (Zayner)
He took the feces from a friend and planned to infuse it into his body in order to use the microorganisms in it to cure the disease. He invited a reporter to record the entire process, which was a public stunt performance like never before. Later, he announced that the experiment made him a lot better.
Zana is preparing for fecal transplantation
Image source: theatlantic.com
But fecal transplants are still experimental and not approved by the FDA. In June 2019, the FDA issued a notice that two patients had serious infections due to fecal transplants containing drug-resistant bacteria, of whichOne person died. It is worth noting that this incident occurred in a clinical trial, and personal DIY attempts are relatively more dangerous. The FDA has also suspended some ongoing fecal transplant clinical trials.
Zana has a well-known point: you can use CRISPR technology to edit your own DNA. At a biotechnology conference in 2017, he injected CRISPR-edited DNA into the body and broadcast the experiment live. Later, he expressed regret, because this live broadcast will encourage others to imitate him blindly, “people will be hurt.” But when asked if his company Odin (a startup in Oakland, California) , would it stop selling CRISPR kits to the public, he said No.
Ellen Jorgensen (Ellen Jorgensen) is a molecular biologist and co-founder of Genspace and Biotech Without Borders, They are two publicly available biology laboratories in Brooklyn. Jorgenson thought Zana’s actions were worrying.
As a scientist who self-identifies as a biohacker, Jorgenson told me that people should not buy kits sold by Zana, not only because these kits are highly unlikely to work properly. (Jorgenson is an expert in this field, even she ca n’t use this set of tools) , and because CRISPR technology is still a new technology, scientists are still not sure All risks during use.
Jorgenson also said that patching your own genome can cause you to inadvertently cause a certain genetic mutation, which increases the risk of cancer. Editing genes is a dangerous act and should not be packaged as a personal DIY activity and brought to market.
Biohacker: You can also | TED