This Individual Is The First Biohacker Who Has Edited His Own DNA

Josiah Zayner is the first person to have edited his own DNA, and he demonstrated the world how easy it is to do that, live-streaming the entire process on his blog, "Science, Art, Beauty". He even claims this was the second time he genetically modified himself.

By using CRISPR, a rather new gene-editing technique, Zayner removed the protein Myostatin from a certain area in his forearm. Myostatin prevents muscle growth, so he had to, at least in theory, notice a growth in muscle mass in the particular area after his experiment.

The process involved simply one piece of DNA that contained a protein (Cas9) as well as a guide RNA (gRNA), that essentially tells the protein where to go. Once the modified DNA was injected into the forearm, the protein and gRNA targeted and afterward deleted the myostatin gene.

Whether he will be gifted with some superhuman strength, we will have to wait and see but, according to what he says on his blog, that wasn't the point of his experiment.

Zayner, who is now an ardent proponent of citizen science as well as a self-identified biohacker, is an ex-NASA scientist, who worked on developing bacteria to support human life on Mars. His current goal is to democratize science and provide everybody with the tools for do-it-yourself biology and genetic engineering, which is a somewhat controversial ambition. Several experts have expressed concern that that could lead to a poorly regulated community of DIY scientists who lack the oversight of traditional scientific institutions. Still, other experts are far more optimistic.

"This is the first time in the history of the Earth that humans are no longer slaves to the genetics they are born with," said Zayner.

"As I write this, the FDA is in the process of approving the first human gene therapy treatment. Still, it's too slow for me, clinical trials have been going on since before 2008. I want to accelerate that. I want people to have a choice about their genetics."

Reference: IFLScience