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PHOTOGRAPH BY CARLOS CHAVARRIA FOR BLOOMBERGBUSINESSWEEK● Forbiohackers,growingupmeansappealing
topeopleunimpressedbygenetherapystunts‘Stop Stabbing
Yourself’
Witheverynewtechnology,therearepioneersand
therearerenegades.TaketheHomebrewComputer
Club,whichforeshadowedthepersonal-computer
revolutionwithitsowndo-it-yourselfmachinesin
the1970sand’80s.Eversincethescienceofgenome
editingpromisedtomaketinkeringwithbiologyas
easyasrewritinga pieceofcomputercode,DIY
typeshavearguedthatthiscutting-edgemedicalsci-
enceshouldbeavailabletoanyonewhowantsan
alternativetoexorbitantdrugprices—ortomodifyor
enhancetheirownbiologyusingtechnology.Atcon-
ferencesandonsocialnetworkssuchasFacebook,
theseself-styledbiohackershaveshowna flairfor
thedramatic.Oneinjectedhimselfwiththegene-
editingtechnologyCrisprata syntheticbiologycon-
ference.Anotherdosedhimselfwithanuntested
genetherapyata conferencecalledBodyHacking
Coninanattempttocureherpes.Oneman’sDIY
efforttocurehisHIVresultedina badreactionon
hismidsection,wherehestucktheneedle.
Whilethedaredevilsimpressedsomeintheir
audiences,theyoftenfreakedpeopleout.InJuly,
Californiapassedlegislationintendedtodiscour-
ageDIYgeneediting,andstateregulatorshavealso
saidtheywereinvestigatingonebiohackerforprac-
ticingmedicinewithouta license.Someoftheself-
taughtscientistssaythatthewindowtobeatthe
establishmenthasclosed,andnowit’stimetojoin
’em.SpeakingattheannualBiohackthePlanetcon-
ferencelastmonth,GabrielLicina,a chefwhoonce
developedhisownnightvisioneyedrops,summed
upthemoodfromthepodium:“Iwouldliketopro-
posethatwegrowupa littlebit,”hesaid.“Please,
fortheloveofGod,stopstabbingyourself.”
Biohackersseekingtofreescienceandscientific
achievementfromtheivorytowerhavecometoreal-
ize that they may have to borrow from its conven-
tions, such as seeking peer reviews for their work.
Instead of the conference’s traditional home in a
ramshackle community space in Oakland, Calif.,
Licina spoke in a bland room at a Renaissance
Hotel off the Las Vegas Strip. He announced
he’ddevelopeda genetherapyfora rareblood
disorder—a$7,000genericalternativetoa $1mil-
lion corporate drug—but rather than calling forTHEBOTTOMLINE Evensomeleadinggeneticbiohackersare
fighting their anti-establishment instincts as the field fills with
money from more traditional sources.self-experimentation,heappealedtopeerstohelp
refineandtestit.Thisyeartheconferenceadded
postersessionssothatscientists,biohackers,and
companiescouldshowofftheirlatestresearch.
Some 150 peopleattended,mostofthempaying$199
fora ticket,anda venturecapitalfirmwasamong
thesponsors.Biohackerattendeesdiscussedplans
forcommercialventures.Inthefirsthalfofthis
year,syntheticbiologystartupsraised$1.9billion
infunding,ontrackforrecordgrowth,according
toSynBioBeta.“Iwouldactuallylikepeopletostart
doingresponsiblework,”saysLicina.Thatmeans
peerreviewandoutsidetesting,notjuststunts.
Thebiggestbiohackersuccessstorythusfaris
EmbediVet,a healthtrackerforlivestockthatstarted
outasa DIYbiometricimplantforhumans.The
companybehindit,LivestockLabs,sawmoreof
aninitialmarketopportunitytargetinganimalsandreceived$2millioninearlyfundingfromAustralia’s
livestockindustrygroup,Meat& LivestockAustralia.
MostDIYgenetherapyexperimentsinpeople
havefailedorfizzledout.ToddKuiken,a researcher
at North Carolina State University’s Genetic
Engineering& SocietyCenterwhostudiescommu-
nitysciencelabs,saysonemeasureofsuccessfor
biohackerswouldbeif theycouldcreatealternative
pathwaysforcareersinscience,ascomputerhack-
ershaveforsoftwareengineers.
JosiahZayner,whorunsBiohackthePlanet,
hasstarteda biotechbootcampthattrainspeo-
pletogetcorporatesciencejobsthroughanonline
curriculum.Hesaysit’sa waytohelpensurethe
spirit of the biohackers survives in a more thor-
oughly professionalized genomics industry,
though he adds that it’s far from ideal. “All good
things come to an end in capitalistic societies,” he
says, “because people figure out how to profit off
of them.” �Kristen V. Brown“I would
actually like
people to
start doing
responsible
work”◀ Zayner runs an online
biohacker boot camp◼ TECHNOLOGY Bloomberg Businessweek October 14, 2019