Support truly
independent journalism
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
Over the last year, ‘biohacking’ has emerged as the latest trend in longevity – but not without controversy.
It’s the idea that you can avoid natural ageing if you work hard enough and spend enough money on it.
One person has spread the term more than any other, becoming famous for taking biohacking to the extreme. Bryan Johnson, 46, is prominently and publicly trying to almost completely stop the ageing process in his own body.
He’s not just trying to freeze time, but to reverse it, aiming to reset his body to a so-called biological age of 18.
In short, he wants his body to have all the hallmarks of a much younger one, in terms of its physical capabilities as well as life expectancy.
Johnson’s many techniques have been built up into something that he calls his ‘Blueprint Protocol’, and the whole system is hugely expensive, costing an estimated $2 million each year.
Johnson is able to pay that sort of money without trouble because he’s an ex-executive in the tech world.
He’s also now started to use the catchphrase “Don’t Die” as his motto and brand, and has hosted themed evenings around the idea of ‘cheating death’ with some huge celebrities.
You only have to check his Instagram page to see him having discussions with the Kardashians, for example, to underline how his profile has soared since his experiments started to get more attention. He also uses Instagram to showcase many of the procedures he claims can help ‘reverse-ageing’.
For example, a recent post goes into some detail about a new stem cell therapy he’s undergoing, in an attempt to keep his joints in perfect health, along with his musculature – involving painful injections of those stem cells into his body.
While that’s a very dramatic example of the techniques and procedures he uses, many of his tips and lifestyle choices are simply common sense taken to the extreme. For example, Johnson is adamant that sleep is a hugely important part of our overall health, something that few doctors would disagree with.
So he has a rigorous sleep routine that involves eye masks and meditative sessions to lull him into having what he claims is the best sleep of anyone in the world (using health sensors to track his rest, of course).
Trackers are, in fact, very much key to all of his aims – Johnson is constantly monitoring a whole host of health metrics, some of them simple like his bench press averages, and others completely bizarre, like his website’s boast about his “night-time erections, 179 min, better than average 18 year old”.
The list of ‘routine measurements’ that Johnson undergoes according to his website includes things like weight, body fat, muscle mass, body water, BMI, blood glucose, and regular MRI scans and ultrasounds to screen for any issues.
He often undergoes more significant procedures, too, and he’s happy to admit that some of these are purely cosmetic, including acid peels and facial fillers, to keep him looking smooth and young. After all, part of being young is being perceived as young, by Johnson’s own admission.
The jury is very much out on whether Johnson’s approach is actually successful – social media seems divided on whether he does indeed look far younger than his 46 years, or if the hyper-fixation on age has left him looking a certain way to make a specific number irrelevant.
