Basement Biohackers: Evolution In the Blink of an Eye
Exploring the duality between uselessly risky experimentation and potential for human breakthrough
At one point or another, we’ve all wanted to change something about ourselves. Whether it’s a quick dip of hair bleach or even a visit to the to plastic surgeon, our journeys as humans — and the modern meaning of human — has led our society towards a culture of “change on command”. Just like many of us fantasize about the ideas of chains of changes that’ll bring us to our ideal selves, others literally do it — superpowers included. These people are called transhumanist biohackers.
Now most of us would be lying if we said we never wished we had a superpower of some sort. Flying, teleportation, invisibility….the list goes on. Growing up, the average person has likely been “indoctrinated” with the idea that these powers are in fact unattainable and simply a figment of the Marvel movies and action horrors seen on the screen — biohackers believe otherwise.
Waves in Transhumanism
Though biological technology has not —at least to public knowledge — gone far enough to reach heights of teleportation and shapeshifting, there are a number of people who have made biological self-augementations that’ve given them some what of a “leg up” in their human ability. Here are some instances.
- 2012 — Biohackers from the Science for The Masses collective inject Chlorine e6 (Ce6) into their eyes to attain temporary night vision.
- 2013 — Transhumanist Tim Cannon implants a chip to transmit biometrical data to his android device, allowing for messages from his phone to be displayed on his skin via LED light.
- 2013 — Neil Harbisson has an antenna implanted in his skull, allowing him to receive satellite signals and connect to to internet. There are 5 people worldwide who can sned him/his antenna content like sounds, videos, or images.
- 2014 — Naomi Kizhner develops a jewelry device that converts kinetic energy in the body to electric energy.
- 2018 — Moon Ribas has her body connected to seismographs that allow her to sense earthquakes everywhere from Russia to the Phillipines. She takes the seismic sensations and turns transforms them into art through dance and music.
Biohacking, in its essence is “DIY biology”. Though not all cases extend to extreme reaches at superhuman ability, it’s often a stereotypical image associated with the art. Quite clearly, there are dangers to this as exemplified by the deaths of biohackers like Traywick, who’s 2018 death shook the world when he injected himself with a DIY CRISPR “research compound” he believed to genetically treat herpes.
Ease of Access
Such incidents have raised concerns about the ease of accesibility to biohacking tools. Today, anyone can do it. Just look up ‘CRISPR CAS-9 kit’ and you’ve already got dozens of search engine results leading you to a price and a shopping cart. Click a couple buttons and you’ve got a gene editing kit at your door in 3–5 business days.
The ease of accessibility to biohacking tools has led to the formation of people called basement biohackers. It’s exactly what it sounds like — often amateur scientists using a designated space in their home to experiment with biology and most importantly, experiment with that biology on themselves.
The fact that practically anyone can get their hands on something like this worries not only healthcare professionals, but governments. In 2019, California passed the first CRISPR law calling for all those vending CRISPR kits to label them with warnings. While in theory it may seem effective, it calls into question whether putting warning kits even makes a difference as most people who are willing to test out these biological hacks on themselves won’t be stopped by a mere red-orange label telling them that what they’re about to do could be potentially dangerous — they already know that, and most don’t really care.
Ethics
There are a also number of ethical questions to explore when discussing the actions of transhumanist biohackers. If they’re willing to do anything to themselves, where is the assertion that they won’t experiment on others?…Should governments have the power to control what kind of experimentation people want to do if it’s on themselves?…What about a “laissez-faire” approach to allowing them to do anything in hopes of discovery of new technology in human advancement? Is there an obligation to protect these people from themselves or should we as a “free society” allow them to self-experiment in hopes that it may benefit “everyone” else?…
Now although a lot of biohacking isn’t extreme or much all that dangerous, there are a healthy handful who will take to online kits and darkweb tutorials in hopes of pushing the boundaries of their humanhood. These are the people who drive the questions and research of bioethicists everyday.
If you’re someone who argues that genetic manipulation is — in its essence — “playing God”, you may be quite opposed to the idea of freely allowing people to make whatever biological changes to themselves that they want. But if you’re like others who silently cheer on the advances that could revolutionize the very foundation of humanity, biohacking may seem like innocent experimentation that at no point should be stopped.
No matter your take on the what boundaries should be set in biohacking, there is one common truth: we are living in an age where the definition of evolution is no longer based in the assertion that change happens with time. Today, change happens as quick as science allows it to — in the blink of an eye.
