While biohackers who adhere to ethical standards set by trained scientists may be safer, independent hackers may be less so, especially when it comes to life-saving tools that have the potential for serious invasiveness or can threaten lives.
Grinder seek to experiment with their bodies, whether by injecting themselves with younger blood to combat aging or implanting sensors for fecal transplants. But these cyborg experiments raise serious ethical and legal concerns.
1. Stainless Steel
Some individuals want more from being healthy than being simply healthy; they want to maximize both mental and physical performance as much as possible. These people, known as biohackers, want to use devices both benign and controversial that help them alter their bodies for optimal mental and physical performance. Hardware companies have responded by creating devices specifically targeted towards these people – known as biohacking devices – which allow biohackers to hacked themselves to improve mental and physical performance.
Grinders are an intriguing subculture of biohackers who strive to become cybernetic organisms, or cyborgs, by altering their bodies using gadgets and implants. From bone-conducting tattoos that help colour blind people hear color to an ID stored on an implanted chip under the skin storing medical ID data – Medical Technology showcases all the incredible ways this community is exploring its desire to alter humanity itself.
Biohacking may seem like an extreme form of self-experimentation, yet many members of the biohacking community embrace it as part of transhumanism – the belief and practice that advocates for the advancement of human intellect and physiology through technological enhancement of flesh and blood bodies. A prime example is Open Insulin Foundation who have spent six years creating community-scale systems which produce safe yet affordable insulin production systems.
2. Ceramic
Grinders apply the hacker ethic to extreme body modification, with many seeking cyborg-like conditions through DIY cybernetic implants. Their actions fall under open-source transhumanism or techno-progressivism movements; although invasive body modifications aren’t typically part of this movement, their popularity is steadily growing.
Biohackers are pushing the limits of human augmentation – from bone-conducting chips in their skull that enable color blind people to hear colour, to embedding medical IDs under one’s skin – all the way up the ladder from fringe technology all the way to doctors, universities and even the Pentagon joining in the experimentation.
Biohackers often seek cognitive prowess as one of their goals, with numerous supplements, foods and drugs promising increased brain performance. Some nootropics specifically target memory and attention deficit while others provide wider benefits like increased creativity or learning ability.
Biohacking enthusiasts have also become more engaged with using tech to augment health interventions, including wearable devices that monitor things such as blood glucose and heart rate. A recent study even assessed whether it would be feasible to use colorimetric tattoos that change hue based on changing blood biomarkers such as lactic acid or cholesterol levels; such a solution could prove invaluable to patients looking for low-cost long-term monitoring without needles and their associated discomfort.
3. Plastic
Grinders open up their bodies and insert things such as magnets, RFID chips and sensors into them in an attempt to better themselves and those around them. Some grinders use smartwatches or fitness trackers to measure things such as their REM cycles and caloric intake; other utilize more intrusive methods of increasing performance enhancement for themselves and others.
Neurohackers use electrical stimulation techniques like transcranial direct current stimulation or vagus nerve stimulation to rewire the brain, or inject themselves with novel psychoactive substances for enhanced cognition and spiritual enlightenment. Some neurohackers employ mental gym or neurofeedback monitoring tools for enhanced performance while others harvest and inject their own stem cells to fight aging or address other health concerns.
Pegleg is an example of an effective DIY biohack: an implant capable of letting users sign on to public transit with just the wave of their hand. Creator ‘Mixael Laufer’ was intrigued by what science and technology could do in terms of human biology; together with fellow hackers at California hackerspace he collaborated on developing this device, which has since sold to thousands worldwide.
Chris Newman, commonly referred to at Grindfest as “Grindhouse”, had six implants surgically inserted in his hands and forearms that are radio-frequency ID and near-field communication transponder chips broadcasting small bits of information a few inches away to digital readers a few inches away. These chips have already been connected with his home, car and office safes so he can unlock them by swiping his finger across them – and plans on adding one in his wallet as well.
Biohackers are still working out who and what qualifies as part of the movement, as some fear the term will turn off regulators and make medical treatments harder to come by. DIY genetic modification could pose potential dangers in healthy individuals (in 2016, a judge removed custody from one such individual who live-streamed his genetic modification of his shin).
