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Man Who Attempted DIY Gene Therapy Found Dead

posted by chromas on Thursday May 03 2018, @03:45AM   Printer-friendly
from the biohacked dept.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Aaron Traywick, a biohacker who once injected himself with an untested herpes therapy on a crusade to expand access to medications, was found dead on Sunday morning in Washington, DC, police confirmed to BuzzFeed News.

Traywick, 28, was found in a spa in Northwest DC, according to police. Staff discovered him in a sensory deprivation flotation tank, according to his colleague Tristan Roberts.

His body was taken for an autopsy, and his cause of death was not immediately known. Their investigation is still ongoing, but the police say they don't suspect foul play.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/stephaniemlee/aaron-traywick-biohacker-died

Also at Newsweek and the BBC.

Previously: "Biohacker" Injects DIY Herpes Vaccine in Front of Audience and Facebook Live (Aaron Traywick)
Biohacker Regrets Injecting Himself With Gene Therapy in Front of a Live Audience (Josiah Zayner reacting to Aaron Traywick)

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  • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday May 03 2018, @05:54AM (5 children)

    by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday May 03 2018, @05:54AM (#674954) Journal

    The injection from 3 months earlier is unlikely to have contributed

    I didn't claim that a connection with the gene self therapy is likely. I just said that the evidence for drug involvement is even less than the evidence of a causal relation to the gene self therapy.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by takyon on Thursday May 03 2018, @06:05AM

    by takyon (881) <{takyon} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Thursday May 03 2018, @06:05AM (#674960) Journal

    I just said that the evidence for drug involvement is even less than the evidence of a causal relation to the gene self therapy.

    You've got it reversed. If there was no mention of the tank, I wouldn't have brought up the involvement of recreational drugs, and would be pondering about how untested gene therapy could have fucked this man up instead.

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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Thursday May 03 2018, @06:30AM (3 children)

    by takyon (881) <{takyon} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Thursday May 03 2018, @06:30AM (#674968) Journal

    I could have saved us some time if I had seen this earlier:

    https://www.washingtonian.com/2018/05/02/aaron-traywick-dc-spa-says-police-found-drug-paraphernalia/ [washingtonian.com]

    DC police found drug paraphernalia among Aaron Traywick‘s belongings, a spokesperson for the spa in which the controversial CEO died tells Washingtonian. Heather Shaw Menis says the detective who investigated his death told her twice about the paraphernalia. In an email, a spokesperson for the DC police tells Washingtonian the department is unable to confirm that detail.

    [...] Shaw Menis says a detective told her police expect toxicology reports in six to ten weeks.

    Deaths in flotation tanks are rare, but published reports have linked them to drug use in the past. In 2008, a 30-year-old UK man died in a tank after taking the horse tranquilizer ketamine and drowning. A 2010 article from the Journal of Forensic Science states that a 50-year-old woman died after mixing over-the-counter sedating drugs, prescription drugs, and alcohol, leading to “probable environmental hypothermia.”

    So now we have a spa employee claiming that the police found drug paraphernalia. Is this the tipping point for you?

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    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03 2018, @09:52AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 03 2018, @09:52AM (#674987)

      A spa PR agent says it wasn't their fault, that's all. And what paraphernalia? That could be anything. And how does it take them 2 months to figure out what it was?

      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday May 03 2018, @01:27PM

        by takyon (881) <{takyon} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Thursday May 03 2018, @01:27PM (#675036) Journal

        A spa PR agent says it wasn't their fault, that's all.

        And it's entirely believable.

        And what paraphernalia? That could be anything.

        If a detective asked about it, it may have had something to do with the man's death. Moreso than a pack of chewing gum or his wallet.

        And how does it take them 2 months to figure out what it was?

        Same reason it takes years to get a "rape kit" tested. Backlogs and delays.

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    • (Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Thursday May 03 2018, @05:32PM

      by maxwell demon (1608) on Thursday May 03 2018, @05:32PM (#675163) Journal

      What exactly are those "drug paraphernalia"? I can think of some that would also be used in administering, say, herpes gene therapy.

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