Biohackers claim that in the near future any person, without special education, will be able to decode the genome, create genetically modified organisms, prevent senile diseases and even, scary to think, postpone their own death. Is this so, RIA Novosti figured out.
Denis Varvanets, biogerontologist, biohacker, popularizer of anti-aging
I first study scientific articles in good Western journals. Having replenished my knowledge of biomarkers, signaling pathways of aging, age-related diseases, I go to the laboratory and pass a certain set of tests. I do some tests myself at home. Biohackers call the sum of these indicators a panel. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of the body. Then I plan an intervention, that is, interfering with the work of the body with the help of drugs, dietary supplements, diet or physical activity. After some time I take tests again to find out the effectiveness and safety of the interventions. What if the kidneys fail? So the experiment must be stopped.
Unlike healthy lifestyle, biohacking relies on the latest scientific research and regular analysis of biomarkers. For me now it's a lifestyle. I regularly measure my biomarkers, mostly related to aging, such as vascular stiffness or carotid intima-media thickness. The lower these rates, the better.
I recently completed an experiment with air filtration in an apartment. I noticed: when I live in Moscow or in some large metropolis, depression arises, memory deteriorates, motivation for any activity disappears. I feel better outside the city. I suggested that it might be due to air pollution. I installed two filters at home: one takes air from the street, cleans it and delivers it to the room, the second cleans the atmosphere directly in the room. I also started a few air-cleaning plants, which I read about in a NASA study. A month later, I passed my tests and saw that the lead content in the blood decreased, the kidneys began to work better, the inflammatory process went away a little, and the device recorded a decrease in the amount of fine dust in the apartment.
Biohacker, biogerontologist Denis Varvanets.
The direction of anti-age, or anti-aging, is only gaining popularity in our country. Abroad, biohackers are trying to carry out more complex interventions at the gene level. For example, they inject themselves with an inactive virus that cannot multiply, but is able to integrate into cells and produce a certain protein. These cases are described on various biohacker sites. Someone is trying to cure HIV, someone is injecting growth hormone to increase muscle mass.
Promotional video:
I believe biohacking will become the global mainstream by 2023. The fact is that classical medicine does not consider aging as a problem, does not help people become smarter, more creative, stronger, does not offer more effective treatment for many diseases, for example atherosclerosis. The doctor will prescribe statins, which will slightly slow the progression of the disease. For many, this is no longer enough, they want something more radical, and this opens up a field for experiments.
Konstantin Severinov, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Russia) and Rutgers University (USA)
There are many commercial developments claiming that dietary recommendations can be made based on the presence of some genetic markers. In most cases, this is no more meaningful than advice not to eat very salty, fatty, or overcooked foods. In terms of evidence-based medicine, this does not exist, except in very special cases, for example, in phenylketonuria (a violation of amino acid metabolism, in which excess protein is dangerous. - Ed.) Or insulin-dependent diabetes. For healthy people, there are no diets scientifically developed on the basis of a set of their genetic markers, and those who say that they are able to develop such diets are either charlatans or ignoramuses, or both together.
Konstantin Severinov, Doctor of Biological Sciences.
Stanislav S., financier, biohacker
Since ancient times, people have wanted to live forever, looked for means to prolong youth, and only now our generation for the first time in history is observing the aging process, the emergence of age-related diseases at the molecular level. Aging develops in dozens of different ways. Some systems of the body wither faster, some more slowly. We cannot influence this process yet, so my goal is to understand how I age using scientific methods. I want to do the best old age experiment in the world. And what to do about it will be seen as technology develops. We will solve the problem of aging, which is an engineering challenge. It's just a matter of time.
I started the experiment four years ago, when nobody heard about biohacking in our country. I'm just interested in the biochemistry of health. As a child, I wanted to become a biologist and now I am realizing my dream at the level of a hobby. I do a panel of analyzes in several Moscow laboratories once a month or quarter. There are more than seven hundred indicators. On average, it takes me two days to study the tests and decide which interventions to take. I have developed an experiment schedule for myself for a year and I am following it.
Some people think that biohacking is an exclusively direct intervention in the human genome, but so far, unfortunately, we do not have enough safe ways to improve the genome. But you can correct the deficiencies inherent in the body. This is what hacking is all about. A computer hacker breaks into the program and reveals some vulnerabilities in it. A biohacker finds vulnerabilities in a living system and uses them to bypass the limitations of his body. I have about 40 vulnerabilities that risk developing into disease in the future. And my job is to manage these risks. I conduct about 30 interventions: drugs, supplements, various sports, diets, individual foods.
Biohacker's risk panel / Stanislav S. / ria.ru
I keep a risk panel, this is a kind of account of my vulnerabilities. Each must be correctly described and justified from a medical and scientific point of view, so that its current status is clear: is it under control or not.
It is important to say that my experiment does not prove the effectiveness of this entire strategy, it cannot be recommended to others, or introduced into clinical practice. The healthcare system will simply not survive if all patients are like me.
Alexander Sokolov, programmer
Several years ago I decided to build my own sequencer. This is a device with which the genome is decoded. The sequencer calculates the sequence of DNA bases and translates them into a sequence of ones and zeros. The device is very expensive - 50-100 thousand dollars. I don’t have that much money, but I really want to get a sequencer, so I decided to collect my own.
The sequencer that Alexander Sokolov put together at home. Photo: Alexander Sokolov.
The semiconductor sequencer contains a disposable chip. I got it, photographed it under a microscope in layers (the amount of data took 50 gigabytes) and restored the structure. This allowed me to design a motherboard for it. I ordered it at the factory. Then he made a system for supplying reagents, learned how to wash used chips so that they were like new, with the help of like-minded people wrote software. The sequencer is, in principle, working, but in order to fully sequence the DNA, you need to calibrate and debug it. I think it will take another month. Then I will try to decipher the genome of some simple organism.
The assembly of the sequencer cost me about one hundred thousand rubles. I have a PCR lab, I have fixed a broken DNA synthesizer that solves the reverse problem of sequencing. There is a device for electrophoresis. A circle of biotechnology enthusiasts formed around me. First, let's create some kind of GM bacteria.
“Using a hacked sequencer to hack the world around you” - that's how I imagine it. In general, biotechnology now is like computer technology in the 1980s. It was created in garages, and now everyone has a personal computer.
Tatiana Pichugina
