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A Biohacker Regrets Publicly Injecting Himself With CRISPR (theatlantic.com)
Sarah Zhang, reporting for The Atlantic: 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.
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.
That's how evil super villains are created and super heros.
We were close to have Herpes-Man running around!!!
The Tide CRISPR challenge!
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Anyone who has played Bioshock already knows how this all ends.
When he does it it's because he's a "social activist", when others do it it's because "to get press and get publicity and get famous".
*injects CRISPR*
*becomes raptor hybrid*
*open the door*
*get on the floor*
*everybody walk the dinosaur*
Where is the proof that the canister contained any active ingredients? My bet would be that the Ceo knew that it was only a saline solution and he injected him self to get some media attention.
If these Biohackers are successful, we will hail them as risk takers and pioneers. Nobel Prizes Winners who experimented on themselves
"What would you do for a Klondike Bar?"
"Would you become a Klondike Bar?"
#DeleteChrome
I will make a pedantic comment in response:
There's nothing fundamentally flawed or bad about the underlying technologies of both. They are well understood, practical solutions that can solve really important problems. CRISPR more than blockchains, but still.
The issue is the snake-oil sellers, confidence men, and their ilk. We call them startups now, but the same applies.
Anyone can take a product or process that isn't well understood and sucker rubes with it. It doesn't make that product or process illegitimate.
Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor