Biohacking is the practice of using technology and science to improve your health, fitness, and overall well-being. It involves using a variety of techniques and tools to optimize your body and mind, from simple lifestyle changes to cutting-edge technologies. The goal of biohacking is to improve one’s physical and mental performance, enhance health and longevity, and optimize overall well-being. Biohackers believe that by taking control of their biology, they can unlock their full potential and live healthier, happier, and more productive lives.
Biohacking: using science, technology, and self-experimentation to optimize (“hack”) one’s own biology, mind, and life.
Out of recent, rapid advances in accessible science and technology has emerged a new concept and practice called “biohacking.” Biohacking is a rapidly growing movement, with many people adopting biohacking techniques to improve their health, fitness, and overall well-being. From Silicon Valley executives to professional athletes, many people are using biohacking to achieve peak performance and optimize their biology.
But what is biohacking, exactly?
History of Biohacking
The term “biohacking” has been applied to several concepts over the past 30+ years:
Biohacking (DIY Biology)
The earliest use of the term biohacking comes from the field of do-it-yourself biology (“Playing God in Your Basement”, Washington Post, January 31, 1988)
DIY biology involves using tools of molecular biology and genetic engineering to genetically modify a bacteria, yeast, plant or animal cell or organism. In the fast few years, new techniques such as CRISPR have made DIY Biology accessible to nearly anyone. So now, you can make your own glowing beer from the comfort of your own home!
Biohacking (Human Augmentation)
Another type of biohacking, also known as body hacking or “grinding”, involves human augmentation by attaching or implanting objects into the body to enhance or gain new abilities or senses.
These objects range from small electronics placed under the skin for aesthetic purposes, to implanting small magnets in fingers or RFID chips in hands to gain new abilities like magnetic touch, ability to unlock doors, or feel a buzz whenever facing true north.
Biohacking (Wellness and Personal Optimization)
But over the past few years another type of biohacking has emerged that has rapidly gained more widespread, mainstream adoption, in the area of wellness and personal optimization, which again can be defined as:
Biohacking: using science, technology, and self-experimentation to optimize (“hack”) one’s own biology, mind, and life.*
You can think of biohacking as taking a systems approach to wellness, since each component is interconnected and tweaking any one variable will in turn affect the others.
(* others in the biohacking community have tweaked this language to some degree but everyone is basically making the same point 👍)
Biohacking vs. Quantified Self – Similar, but Different
Many people associate self quantification and biohacking as being the same thing, but they are wrong. While there is some overlap, they are different in several ways. For example, someone into biohacking might be less concerned about digging into data or isolating which of the 50 “hacks” they are doing gets the result they want, as long as it’s working.
And Quantified Self isn’t only about optimizing one’s biology – it touches all areas of life, from finance to habits to relationships.
But at the end of the day, it’s all about us being single subject experiments and identifying what works best for each of us to get us all to an optimal state we seek.
As for me, I would put myself right in the middle between biohacking and self-quantification.
Learn More About Biohacking:
If you’re interested in biohacking, there are many ways to get started. You can learn more about biohacking by reading books and blogs, attending workshops and conferences, and joining online communities. You can also experiment with different biohacking techniques and tools to see what works best for you.
- Body: diet, fasting, lab testing, exercise, sleep, etc.
- Environment: air quality, water quality, radiation (EMF), detox, etc.
- Mind: memory, cognition, nootropics, etc.
- Lifestyle: stress, travel, personality, relationships, etc.
- Tech/Tools: wearables, biohacking tools, apps, measurement devices, etc.
- Data: data visualizations, exploring personal data, etc.
In conclusion, biohacking is a powerful way to take control of your health, fitness, and overall well-being. By using technology and science to optimize your biology, you can unlock your full potential and live a healthier, happier, and more productive life.
