Body hacking explained

Body hacking is the application of the hacker ethic (often in combination with a high risk tolerance) in pursuit of enhancement or change to the body's functions through technological means, such as do-it-yourself cybernetic devices^[1] or by introducing biochemicals.^[2]

Grinders are a self-identified community of body hackers. Many grinders identify with the biopunk movement, open-source transhumanism, and techno-progressivism.^{[3] [4]} The Grinder movement is strongly associated with the body modification movement and practices actual implantation of cybernetic devices in organic bodies as a method of working towards transhumanism. This includes designing and installing do-it-yourself body enhancements, such as magnetic implants.^{[5] [6]} Biohacking emerged in a growing trend of non-institutional science and technology development.^{[7] [8] [9]}

"Biohacking" can also refer to managing one's own biology using a combination of medical, nutritional, and electronic techniques. This may include the use of nootropics, nontoxic substances, and/or cybernetic devices for recording biometric data (as in the quantified self movement).^[10]

Ideology

Grinders largely identify with transhumanist and biopunk ideologies.^{[7] [11]} Transhumanism is the belief that it is both possible and desirable to so fundamentally alter the human condition through the use of technologies as to inaugurate a superior post-human being.^{[12] [13] [14]} Kara Platoni categorizes such technological modifications as "hard" biohacking, noting the desire to expand the boundaries of human perception and even create "new senses".^{[15] [16]}

Biopunk is a techno-progressive cultural and intellectual movement that advocates open access to genetic information and espouses the liberating potential of truly democratic technological development.^{[17] [18]} Like other punk movements, biopunk encourages the DIY ethic.^{[11] [19]} "Grinders" adhere to an anarchist strain of biopunk that emphasizes non-hierarchical science and DIY.

Cyborgs and cyborg theory strongly influence techno-progressivism and transhumanism and are thus influential to both the DIY-bio movement and grinder movement in general.^[20] Some biohackers, such as grinders and the British professor of cybernetics Kevin Warwick, actively design and implement technologies that are integrated directly into the organic body.^[5] Examples of this include DIY magnetic fingertip implants or Warwick's "Project Cyborg".^{[5] [21] [22]} Cyborg theory was kickstarted in 1985 with the publication of Donna Haraway's influential "Cyborg Manifesto" but can be traced back all the way to Manfred Clynes and Nathan Klines' article "Cyborgs and Space".^[23] This body of theory criticizes the rigidity of ontological boundaries and attempts to denaturalize artificial dichotomies.^[20]

Notable people

• Kevin Warwick is a British scientist and professor of cybernetics who has been instrumental in advancing and popularizing cyborg technology and biohacking through his self-experiments.^{[24] [25]}
• Steve Mann is a professor of electrical and computer engineering who has dedicated his career to inventing, implementing, and researching cyborg technologies, in particular, wearable computing technologies.
• Amal Graafstra is known for implanting an RFID chip in 2005 and developing human-friendly chips, including the first-ever implantable NFC chip.^[26] In 2013, he founded the biotech startup company Dangerous Things.^[27] He is also the author of RFID Toys^[28] and speaker on biohacking topics, including a TEDx talk. He has also built a smartgun that is activated by his implants. He has created an implantable cryptographic processor called VivoKey^[29] for personal identity and cryptography applications.
• Lepht Anonym is a biohacker and transhumanist known for self-surgeries and material implementation of transhumanist ideologies.^[30]
• Winslow Strong is a mathematician and physicist.^[31]
• Tim Cannon is a software developer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of biotech startup company Grindhouse Wetware.^[32]
• Jeffrey Tibbetts is the organiser of the Grindfest events at his lab in California. He is a biohacking researcher whose work has been featured in a number of sources, such as Gizmodo.^[33]
• Alex Smith is a biohacker known for his work developing new implants, such as the Firefly implants.^[34] He has spoken at various conferences, including DEFCON,^[35] and been featured in a number of news articles.^[36]
• Rich Lee is known for implanting headphones in his tragi in 2013, as well as for his work on a vibrating pelvic implant called the Lovetron9000. His biohacking activities were used as a justification to remove his parental custody rights in 2016.^{[37] [38] [39] [40]}
• Brian Hanley is an American microbiologist who became known for being one of the first biohackers to engineer their own DNA using gene therapy for human enhancement and life extension.^[41]
• Meow-Ludo Disco Gamma Meow-Meow implanted a microchip used for the Opal card in Sydney, Australia, though he was subsequently fined $220 for failing to comply with existing transit laws.^[42] He also ran against Barnaby Joyce in the Division of New England.^[42]
• Jo Zayner attempted a full fecal microbiota transplant on herself in February 2016.^[43] She is also the Founder of the ODIN, a company which delivers DIY-biology and genetic modification kits to consumers.
• Biohacker Hannes Sjöblad has been experimenting with NFC chip implants since 2015. In his talk at Echappée Voléé 2016 in Paris, Sjöblad said that he has also implanted himself with a chip between his forefinger and thumb and uses it to unlock doors, make payments, unlock his phone, and essentially replace anything that is in his pockets.^[44] He has also hosted several "implant parties", where interested parties can get chips implanted.^[45]
• Tim Vasilev is a pioneer of biohacking and the most famous popularizer of the practice in the CIS. In 2018, he opened his own biohacking laboratory, spending more than $2 million, together with partners.^{[46] [47]} Vasilev has a decade of experience optimizing health and performance for executives and professional athletes, including Olympic medalists.^[48]

Groups and organizations

• Grindhouse Wetware, biotechnology startup company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• KSEC Solutions, worldwide distributor and consultancy based in the United Kingdom
• BioViva, gene therapy research and development company based in Bainbridge Island, Washington

See also

• Neurohacking
• Do-it-yourself biology

External links

• Grinder Resource Library
• Biopunk directory
• Transhumanist resources

Videos

• Richard Thieme, "Hacking, biohacking and the future of humanity"
• "Biohackers: a journey into cyborg America"
• Kevin Warwick, "The last remaining hurdles to cyborg technology"
• Kevin Warwick, "Implants and technology—the future of healthcare?"
• Kevin Warwick, "Cyborg interfaces"
• RBC Trends: "How to make yourself more powerful: what is biohacking?"

Notes and References

1. Web site: Biohackers are implanting LEDs under their skin . Motherboard. 9 November 2015 .
2. Web site: This Biohacker Used Eyedrops to Give Himself Temporary Night Vision . Gizmodo . 27 March 2016 .
3. Web site: Who We Are. wiki.biohack.me. 30 November 2012. 28 August 2012.
4. Web site: DIYBio Codes. DIYBio. 30 November 2012. 2011.
5. Web site: Popper. Ben. Cyborg America: inside the strange new world of basement body hackers. Verge Magazine. 8 August 2012. 30 November 2012.
6. Web site: Body Modifications and Bio-Hacking. wiki.biohack.me. 30 November 2012. 21 May 2012.
7. Web site: Greg Boustead. The Biohacking Hobbyist. Seed Magazine. 11 July 2010. 11 December 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20090322191741/http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_biohacking_hobbyist/. unfit. 22 March 2009.
8. Web site: Phil McKenna. Rise of the garage genome hackers. New Scientist. 11 July 2010. 7 January 2009.
9. Web site: Patti Schiendelman. DIYBio for biohackers. Make: Online. 11 July 2010. 1 January 2009. 15 March 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100315101335/http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/diybio_for_biohackers.html. dead.
10. Web site: Glen Martin. 'Biohackers' mining their own bodies' data. SF Gate. 30 November 2012. 28 June 2012.
11. Web site: Meredith L. Patterson. A Biopunk Manifesto. Outlaw Biology? Public Participation in the Age of Big Bio.. 30 November 2012. 30 January 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20121001040922/http://maradydd.livejournal.com/496085.html. 1 October 2012.
12. Bostrom. Nick. A History of Transhumanist Thought. Journal of Evolution and Technology. 2005. 30 November 2012.
13. Book: Hayles, Katherine. How we became posthuman: virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics. 1999. University of Chicago Press. Chicago. 978-0-226-32139-4.
14. Web site: Katherine Hayles. H-: Wrestling with Transhumanism. MetaNexus. 30 November 2012. 11 September 2011.
15. Czuba. Killian. Fast Forward. Distillations . 2017. 2. 4. 44–45. 24 March 2018.
16. Book: Platoni. Kara. We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time. 8 December 2015. Basic Books. 978-0465089970. 7, 237–254. 18 July 2017.
17. Newitz, Annalee. Biopunk. 2001 . 26 January 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20021220190353/http://www.sfbg.com/SFLife/tech/71.html . 20 December 2002. Annalee Newitz.
18. Newitz, Annalee. Genome Liberation. 2002. https://archive.today/20130202102133/http://www.salon.com/2002/02/26/biopunk/singleton/. dead. 2 February 2013. 26 January 2007.
19. Web site: Oxford Journal of Design History Webpage. 24 September 2007. "Yet, it remains within the subculture of punk music where the homemade, A4, stapled and photocopied fanzines of the late 1970s fostered the "do-it-yourself" (DIY) production techniques of cut-n-paste letterforms, photocopied and collaged images, hand-scrawled and typewritten texts, to create a recognizable graphic design aesthetic.".
20. Book: Gray, Chris Hables. The Cyborg Handbook. 1995. Routledge. New York. 978-0415908498.
21. Web site: Warwick. Kevin. Implants and Technology: The Future of Healthcare?. TEDxWarwick. TED. 30 November 2012.
22. Web site: Projects. Grindhouse Wetware. 30 November 2012. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20120827003108/http://www.grindhousewetware.com/projects-1. 27 August 2012.
23. Clynes. Manfred. Klines. Nathan. Astronautics. September 1960.
24. Warwick, K, Gasson, M, Hutt, B, Goodhew, I, Kyberd, P, Andrews, B, Teddy, P and Shad, A:“The Application of Implant Technology for Cybernetic Systems”, Archives of Neurology, 60(10), pp1369-1373, 2003
25. Web site: Professor has world's first silicon chip implant. Independent.co.uk. 25 August 1998.
26. Web site: The xNT implantable NFC chip. Indiegogo. en-US. 26 May 2017.
27. Web site: Dangerous Things. Dangerous Things. en-us. 26 May 2017.
28. Web site: RFID Toys. amzn.to. 26 May 2017.
29. Web site: Vivokey – The future is waiting.... vivokey.com. en. 26 May 2017.
30. Borland. John. Transcending the Human, DIY Style. Wired Magazine. 30 November 2012.
31. Web site: Strong. Winslow. Winslow's Bio. Biohack Yourself: Transcend Your Limits. 3 December 2013.
32. Web site: The DIY Cyborg – VICE. 31 October 2013 .
33. Web site: The Real Science Behind the Crazy Night Vision Eyedrops. 2 April 2015. Gizmodo.
34. Web site: Firefly Tattoos. Biohack.me. 24 April 2016 .
35. Web site: DEF CON 23 – BioHacking Village – Alex Smith – Cloning Access Cards to Implants. https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/jSzUwF9RfJw . 14 December 2021 . live. YouTube.
36. Web site: Human Body Merges With Technology in 'Biohacking' Trend. Tammy. Leitner. Lisa. Capitanini • •. 21 September 2015 .
37. Web site: Vibrating penises and bionic arms: The inventions turning people into CYBORGS. Sophie. Curtis. Daily Mirror. 27 May 2016.
38. News: The real cyborgs – in-depth feature about people merging with machines. Telegraph.co.uk.
39. Web site: Biohackers implant computers, earbuds and antennas in their bodies. Jurica. Dujmovic.
40. Web site: These Young Cyborgs Are Building the Future of Modern Medicine. 14 September 2015 .
41. Web site: Regalado. Antonio. One man's quest to hack his own genes. MIT Technology Review. 23 April 2017. en.
42. News: . A Self-Described "Cyborg" Who Got A Travel Card Chip Implanted In His Hand Just Got A Ticket Fine . Lane . Sainty . 15 March 2018.
43. Web site: Duhaime-Ross . Arielle . A Bitter Pill . . 4 May 2016 . 14 June 2016 .
44. Web site: 19 February 2016. Au pays des espèces en voie de disparition. 16 June 2021. Les Echos. fr.
45. News: 10 December 2014. The rise of the Swedish cyborgs. en-GB. BBC News. 16 June 2021.
46. Web site: 18 February 2020. Body work: Russia's 'biohackers' push boundaries. Tech Xplore.
47. Web site: 15 October 2019. Who got Russian business hooked on biohacking. Inc.. ru.
48. Web site: 4 June 2019. Ten Successful Biohacking Companies and Startups. Biohacking Conference Moscow.