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posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday February 07 2018, @10:28AM   Printer-friendly
from the how-do-you-test-its-effectiveness? dept.

"Biohackers" are growing bolder with their self-experimentation:

Aaron Traywick, 28, who leads biotech firm Ascendance Biomedical, used an experimental herpes treatment that did not go through the typical route of clinical trials to test its safety. Instead of being developed by research scientists in laboratories, it was created by a biohacker named Andreas Stuermer, who "holds a masters degree and is a bioentrepreneur and science lover," according to a conference bio. This is typical of the Ascendance approach. The company believes that FDA regulations for developing treatments are too slow and that having biohackers do the research and experiment on themselves can speed up the process to everyone's benefit. In the past, the company's plans have included trying to reverse menopause, a method that is now actually in clinical trials.

"We prefer to do everything before a live audience so you can hold us accountable in the days to come as we collect the data to prove whether or not this works," Traywick said before last night's spectacle. And, he added, "if we succeed with herpes in even the most minor ways, we can move forward immediately with cancer."

Despite specifying that he wanted "technical questions," someone in the audience asked whether Ascendance had received ethical permission for the experiment. Traywick said he didn't. Technically, everything has been officially labeled "not for human consumption," he said.

Also at The Scientist.

Related: Gene Therapy to Kill Cancer Moves a Step Closer to Market
Biohackers Disregard FDA Warning on DIY Gene Therapy


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by edIII on Wednesday February 07 2018, @08:07PM

    by edIII (791) on Wednesday February 07 2018, @08:07PM (#634536)

    This is because we've long ago moved away from evidence and fact-based truth to the full post-truth world. In that world, evidence is what a PR campaign says it is. Evidence is what the loudness of your Twitter followers contains, and remember, in the event of a dispute, liberally spread fake-news rebuttals across the Internet. It's Wild West old-timey medicine shows with the truth distribution system known as the Internet </sarcasm>.

    To be fair, the FDA long ago lost any moral or scientific authority it had. So I can understand why these disruptive bio-hackers are giving the finger to the system. They know it's deeply flawed and corrupt, and unless you have billions and the right connections, you never get anywhere in that morass of an industry.

    You're exactly correct. It doesn't matter if they live, if they're cured, what they find, etc. Whatever findings they produce must be replicated and understood using proper and unbiased science to give us the legal indemnities they would need to operate. Not to mention, it would be nice to know if it didn't kill us.

    What I lament though is that truly proper and unbiased science doesn't exist. So I either get innovation in health care from the corrupt greedy fuckers that see deaths as percentages, or Wild West dreamers enjoying their bio-hacking civil disobedience. Either way, the medical system is poorer for it.

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