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A Biohacker Regrets Publicly Injecting Himself With CRISPR
When Josiah Zayner watched a biotech CEO drop his pants at a biohacking conference and inject himself with an untested herpes treatment, he realized things had gone off the rails.
Zayner is no stranger to stunts in biohacking—loosely defined as experiments, often on the self, that take place outside of traditional lab spaces. You might say he invented their latest incarnation: He's sterilized his body to "transplant" his entire microbiome in front of a reporter. He's squabbled with the FDA about selling a kit to make glow-in-the-dark beer. He's extensively documented attempts to genetically engineer the color of his skin. And most notoriously, he injected his arm with DNA encoding for CRISPR that could theoretically enhance his muscles—in between taking swigs of Scotch at a live-streamed event during an October conference. (Experts say—and even Zayner himself in the live-stream conceded—it's unlikely to work.)
So when Zayner saw Ascendance Biomedical's CEO injecting himself on a live-stream earlier this month, you might say there was an uneasy flicker of recognition.
Ascendance Bio soon fell apart in almost comical fashion. The company's own biohackers—who created the treatment but who were not being paid—revolted and the CEO locked himself in a lab. Even before all that, the company had another man inject himself with an untested HIV treatment on Facebook Live. And just days after the pants-less herpes treatment stunt, another biohacker who shared lab space with Ascendance posted a video detailing a self-created gene therapy for lactose intolerance. The stakes in biohacking seem to be getting higher and higher.
"Honestly, I kind of blame myself," Zayner told me recently. He's been in a soul-searching mood; he recently had a kid and the backlash to the CRISPR stunt in October had been getting to him. "There's no doubt in my mind that somebody is going to end up hurt eventually," he said.
The cat's out of the bag, dawg! You're just another anti-progress bio-Luddite now!
Previously: Biohackers Disregard FDA Warning on DIY Gene Therapy
"Biohacker" Injects DIY Herpes Vaccine in Front of Audience and Facebook Live
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 23 2018, @02:45PM (8 children)
If someone is "crazy" enough to inject themselves with some untested, home-brewed concoction why be surprised when they go off the rails, lock themselves in a lab or whatever?
What could possibly go wrong?
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday February 23 2018, @03:49PM (5 children)
What could possibly go wrong?
They could become psychotic, and gain superhuman strength and other physical attributes, gain possession of some advanced weaponry including a flying board and glowing green grenade, and then fly around causing terror and calamity, while yelling, "Out, am I?"
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 23 2018, @04:25PM (3 children)
OK, OK ... but besides that, what could possibly go wrong?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 23 2018, @05:51PM (2 children)
I was going to say "They could then run for president" but I think that would be an improvement over what's currently in office.
(Score: 1) by DECbot on Friday February 23 2018, @06:00PM (1 child)
WAIT! You mean the orange skin is natural?!?
cats~$ sudo chown -R us /home/base
(Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Friday February 23 2018, @07:07PM
I thought it was an homage to Matt Groening [stackexchange.com].
No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Friday February 23 2018, @08:17PM
The Green Hemoglobin strikes again? This looks like a job for... Herpes-Man!
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 23 2018, @06:01PM (1 child)
They use to call these people junkies. But now it's "biohacker"?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday February 23 2018, @07:00PM
"I'm addicted to vaccines, man. But if I can't get that I'll settle for high-grade gene therapy."