BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Can Biohackers Change the Human Lifestyle?

In an article written on the BBC News website, the effects and new technologies of biohackers were explored. Biohackers are people who use science and natural remedies to further better brain and body function and overall motion. For example, Liviu Babitz created a gadget in his chest where the chip in his body vibrates every time he faces north. Babitz asks the question, if some animals can already sense direction, why shouldn’t we?”

 

This is an image of DNA as a double helix. Many of these biohackers are attempting to change and modify human genes using biomedical technologies.

 

A more controversial and modern biomedical technology is CRISPR. Rich Lee, a cabinet maker and one who does extreme body modifications, is currently attempting to used CRISPR to modify his own genes. He reveals the dangers of this by showing his scars from his legs. This exploration of biohacking is extremely dangerous as well. However, Lee states, “I want to see a biologically fluid society where people can just augment these things.”

Another example of a biohacker is Corina Ingram-Noehr, an event organizer. She has created a routine that includes technologies and over twenty different supplements to support her physique.

Corina Ingram-Noehr uses cryotherapy where she can walk around in the freezing cold with shorts. She states, “Biohacking for me is taking control of your own biology. It’s taking shortcuts to get to a place that you want to be – so shortcutting your health. That’s kind of how I think of it at least.”

Biohacking is on the horizon for medicine and will most likely be used on a bigger scale in this upcoming decade.

 

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5 Comments

  1. tytybox

    I had no idea that biohacking was even a thing, thanks. This is a really weird thing to think about, especially with people like cabinet makers and event organizers deciding to biologically enhance themselves. I wonder if there’s ever going to be a point we reach where anyone can genetically modify themselves. This article talks about the future of CRISPR and the benefits of it.

  2. trnayon

    Tsiamine, this is a very interesting topic to consider. It is very cool that these scientists are finding ways to further develop the human genetics, but it also poses many questionable concerns. Like how safe and affective is it? This article I found reviews the time it takes to produce such technologies (12 years) and how much money ($2.6 billion) it takes to create these trials. The process is expensive and slow and it’s estimated that less than 1% of the new products gets approved.
    http://theconversation.com/the-dangers-of-biohacking-experiments-and-how-it-could-harm-your-health-100542
    This article also goes through the pros and dangerous cons. This is a very fascinating topic.

  3. kylsquared

    Hi Tsiamine! Thank you for this intriguing article, I had no idea biohacking existed! I find it fascinating how one can take biology into their own hands with all of the information we have access to today in an attempt to better the human race. I’ve found an article (https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/6/25/18682583/biohacking-transhumanism-human-augmentation-genetic-engineering-crispr) that includes other examples of biohacking such as a “near infra-red sauna” that has claimed to increase cell regeneration to fasting in attempt to “reset” the body’s systems and functioning. Although at first I thought biohacking had to do merely with technology, I now see that one can “biohack” their own bodies through the ways they choose to use information. Again, very interesting article and I look forward to seeing how far biohacking will advance, and how it may/may not be able to be regulated in the future.

  4. jacuole

    Tsiamine, thank you for writing about this topic, because I’ve never heard of this before! As soon as I read the word “biohacker,” my mind jumped to some of the stuff we’ve seen in watching “Gattaca”: using technology to change the very foundation of our genes. However, as I kept on reading, it sounds like biohacking is just a broad term for stuff we already do. For example, cryotherapy has been used for a while to speed up an athlete’s recovery, and there was even a place for it on Glen Cove road. The piece “Biohacking for Beginners” (https://www.tonyrobbins.com/health-vitality/biohacking-for-beginners/) tells us that biohacking “can be as daily as using wearable technology to help you monitor and regulate physiological data. Or it can be as extreme as using implant technology and genetic engineering.” After hearing this, I realized that we all do some sort of biohacking every single day, which makes the general concept a little less scary to me!

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