Biohacking Review

Biohacking Has Come and Is Here to Stay

One of the most misunderstood areas of exploration in technology is undoubtedly biohacking.

What Is Biohacking?

Biohacking is the practice of changing our biology and physical state by using the hacker ethic – sharing, openness, free access, and personal improvement. Biohacking is really the idea that we can be so much more than what we are simply born with if we add to our bodies and alter its’ chemistry.

Over the past few years, we have see many people and companies use compounds and technology to augment (or hack) who we are, how we play, and how we operate in the world. Technological advancement, access to investment, and the bravery to try something new means that we are making progress in this field at a rate never seen before.

The truth is that we are all biohackers to a degree.

Think about it.

What is technically considered normal?

Eating 2,000 calories a day, drinking water, and engaging in life exercise?

If you take in anything else, you are biohacking. If you wear makeup, enjoy a fresh IPA every weekend, are on a specific diet, or use technology to change your look or behavior, then you are a biohacker. You are becoming more than what you were born with.

Biohacking has come and it’s here to stay. It’s not going anywhere. It’s growing in popularity and is rapidly expanding and there are several areas where biohacking is expanding:

Wearables

The invention of the Apple Watch, and wearable devices like FitBit are the most recent form of wearables, although the technology has been around since the 1980s. Wearables capture and process data and images in a wearable rig in real time and the interest in monitoring one’s health in real time is only going to enable wearable technology to continue to reach new heights.

Implantables

Often dubbed the “edgier” side of biohacking, implantables involve physically implanting an NFC/RFID chip into the hand or arm of an individual to process data. Some implantables can unlock RFID locks and password scanners.

While this may seem like its’ straight out of Skynet, this technology still has plenty of obstacles since many people find it unethical. However, the technology does exist and it can be used.

Hacking DNA

New technology can potentially enable us to break bad DNA (the DNA that could be causing cancerous cell growth or allergies) and fixing it with good strands of RNA. What does this mean? This means we could potentially treat genetic diseases, mutations, and even prevent cancer.

Smart Drugs

Smart Drugs, also known as “nootropics”, enable individuals to improve their cognitive performance. Online forums, such as Reddit, have enabled users to come together to exchange “stack” recipes and discuss the effects of various combinations of nootropic compounds.

However, smart drugs may end up going much more further than this. Some people believe that we are literally going to ingest information. We might swallow a pill and suddenly know English or Shakespeare.

Just twenty years ago it the notion of these smart drugs would have been scoffed at, but the truth is that biohacking in this area is seeing the most interest from biohackers.

Biohacking is becoming mainstream and more people desire the ability to control their own lives. Biohacking is here to stay and we should accept this so we can move on to bigger and better things for ourselves down the road.