As scientists around the world are making slow progress in tackling aging, biohackers are taking matters into their own hands. Experiments on worms, flies, and mice extended their lives, but now humans have become experimental animals.
“I like to compare classical medicine to a car repair shop that fixes what's already broken. The first question doctors ask is, "What worries you?" While we are an auto-tuning salon,”says 28-year-old Denis Varvanets, a tall, dark-haired young man in a T-shirt with the inscription“Academy -83”. "We're going to improve healthy people."
By the word “we” Denis means biohackers. In all of Russia, only 20 people consider themselves to be in this category. They used to call themselves "transhumanists", that is, people who cheat on the aging process. The terminology gradually evolved, and Russian transhumanists came to the term "biohacking", I must say, not without the help of their American colleagues. Although, perhaps the name is the only thing they have in common.
Russian biohackers see themselves as special. “In theory, you need a doctor's prescription to get a medicine. In Russia, everything is the other way around: here almost any product can be bought at a pharmacy, so everything is possible here,”explains Denis. If the West, as a rule, is gadgets and beautiful infographics created by the same gadgets, about giving up sugar and reducing stress, biohacking in the Russian style, this is a cult of checks (constant monitoring of biochemical parameters) and experiments with drugs.
Two years ago Denis was a bummer: no sport, at best, a little running. He had health problems and never walked briskly. Today he is a co-founder of the biohacking laboratory at the Moscow fitness club Atmosphere: the two upper floors in the Empire Tower skyscraper in the center of the capital, not to mention dozens of clients from the Forbes magazine list. Everything is based on numerous measurements and is ultra-modern: a combination of sport and "therapy". When Denis began to "modernize" himself, after six months the parameters of his body were already on a par with those of an experienced athlete. However, although there is very little information about biohackers in the press, almost all of it is negative. Biohackers are "freaks without medical education who wreak havoc in science and kill themselves with their own experiments" - this is the general conclusion of the media.
However, these people believe that they will survive the present age.
About the magic pill
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“But not now, right? I am also not saying that if someone shoots at me, I will not die. If I get hit by a car, I'll die,”says a man in a dark blue suit. He sips a solution of vitamin C from a glass. "Still, I'm not going to die."
A gray five-story building in the east of Moscow, two security posts outside. Inside is the office of an international outsourcing company. We're in her CFO's office. He is 35 years old, his name is Sergey Skakun and he is a biohacker. The walls of the office are hung with all kinds of diplomas and certificates, but not for biohacking, but for corporate finance. The only thing that betrays the presence of biohacking here is a can of taurine and a couple of other drugs in the corner by the printer. The rest is typical: a leather chair, a large monitor, a clean table - nothing superfluous.
For the past three and a half years, the man has been running what is arguably the world's largest self-digitalization experiment, for which he has already been compared to American biohacking star Chris Dancy. But if Dancy is a cyborg, Racehorse is his complete opposite. Every day he takes 35 drugs and spends four hours reading scientific articles. He has a large Excel spreadsheet, which contains 760 body parameters and about 8 thousand biomarkers (hemoglobin, cholesterol - everything that we are made of). He read and took notes on 15,000 scientific articles. What he does is called self-quantification. The term was coined by the editors of the American magazine Wired in 2007. The body is a biochemical machine and amazing effects can be achieved by taking various substances. From the very beginning of his project, Skakun conducted about 120 experiments on himself with various drugs and dosages.
“For example, I took metformin. This is a medicine for people with type 2 diabetes.”Stanislav opens his table with a list of biochemical parameters, from lipids to proteins, enzymes and trace elements. The number of digits is simply dizzying. Some are in the gray area (normal), others are in the yellow (risk), and some are in the red (something is wrong).
The fact is that Stanislav does not have any diabetes. Many in the global biohacking community are convinced that metformin prolongs life. This is why they are taking this drug. “Diabetics who took metformin lived on average seven years longer than healthy people who did not. This gave reason to believe that metformin is the first cure for old age,”says Stanislav. There is, however, a side effect. Metformin treats diabetes, but causes early dementia and even Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. We don't know why this is happening. One of the possible reasons is that the drug blocks the metabolism of vitamin B, which is necessary for the normal functioning of the brain.
What to do? Stanislav looked at the table, saw what was happening, and chose the dosage of vitamins to eliminate this side effect. At the same time, it reduced the risk of developing cancer - it turns out that this wonderful drug for diabetes also has this property. “Metformin reduces the likelihood of developing cancer because it slows down the rate of cell division in the body. I slowed this down and eliminated the side effect of dementia. I think this is a successful experiment,”he says triumphantly.
Stanislav is convinced that his biological age is 26 years old, and his experiment will prolong the aging process. To my surprise, he says in passing: "I highly recommend not trying biohacking."
How not to die
In April, world media reported the death of 28-year-old American biohacker Aaron Trayvik in a very salty water pool. Only a few, however, noted that it was an accident, and not the result of another experiment. Caustic comments appeared on social networks: "A biohacker cannot deceive the body." A month earlier, during a public demonstration on stage, Trivik had injected himself with an experimental herpes vaccine.
Denis disagrees: Treivik, who died in America, was known for his passion for psychedelic drugs. “In the pool, he was under the influence of the medicinal ketamine. So he just fell asleep, rolled over and drowned. It had nothing to do with his injections against the virus."
Fortunately, there have been no deaths among Russian biohackers so far. Perhaps because they are "conservative," says Skakun, and don't even plan on using homemade vaccines. They value scientific evidence and absolute control. But even with this approach, it all looks more like a game of Russian roulette or poker.
“Ninety-nine percent of poker players have lost and quit the game. Biohacking is not a science, but a hobby. All results are related to one person. Everything I do with myself is just an experiment. At any time something can go wrong,”he says.
Stanislav even promised to grow old "live". He wanted the data on his experiment to be published. One of the reasons was the creation of a new service, like a biohacking startup. He wanted all information about the body, from genetics to growth, to be stored in one place. In the same way, all information about a company can fit into one 10-page report. But Stanislav will not do this while he remains CFO. If anyone is wondering why a financier in Russia cannot be a biohacker, the answer is simple: the company's reputation. Nobody knows how customers or shareholders will perceive it.
“Everyone thinks biohackers are dudes who constantly swallow pills, cut themselves, implant electronic devices in their bodies, and that's all that makes up their day. This is complete nonsense! - says Stanislav. “I spend almost all the time while the experiment is going on at my work monitor.”
Scientists can already extend the life of a flatworm tenfold and double the lifespan of a laboratory mouse. While this may not seem as encouraging information as biohackers would like. But they believe that already in this century, a person will surpass the genetically determined life limit of 120 years.
I ask Stanislav how many years he wants to live. Judging by the expression on his face, he doesn't like the question. It was as if he gave a long speech, but he was never understood. “It doesn't really matter,” he replies. - It is important for me that I live a full life, here and now. If I once open my eyes and realize that 5 thousand years have passed, this is not a problem. We have two options - we can die fighting or die on our knees."
Igor Abramov