Bryan Johnson Reprograms His Own Blood Cells into Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Bryan Johnson
Headlines claimed that biohacker Bryan Johnson had "cloned himself." One clip described a scheme of creating a baby version of himself and harvesting its organs. Johnson opens the video with those reactions and then explains what he actually did. His own blood cells were reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which he calls "baby Bryans" sitting in a dish. He treats the project as a first step toward using his own cells to repair disease, and says he wants to make the technology cheap enough for everyone.
Not a Clone, Not an Embryo
Johnson calls the procedure one of the coolest things he has ever done. He describes taking his 48-year-old cells and reversing them "to zero," back to an embryonic-like state. He is explicit that the result is not an embryo. It is his own cells in a dish whose epigenetic age has been reset to zero.
Why the Project Changed Direction
Johnson links the work to a recent diagnosis of an incurable disease. Later in the video he identifies it as autoimmune gastritis. He calls the diagnosis "one of the best things that's ever happened" to him.
Before the diagnosis, he explains, the project focused on keeping the body in pristine health through therapies, protocols, sleep, diet and nutrition. After his diagnosis, and after Kate was diagnosed with endometriosis, the project shifted "overnight." He says they have spent the past few weeks sprinting to learn what a person can do once diagnosed with a disease. Their focus is moving from the basics of longevity toward disease resolution, with Kate and Johnson as "the first customers."
The Procedure
Johnson walks through the steps as he describes them:
- A blood draw of 125 ml.
- Separation of the cells.
- Application of Yamanaka factors to the cells.
According to Johnson, the Yamanaka factors reset the cells' epigenetic age to zero and put them into an embryonic-like state. That makes them induced pluripotent stem cells. He explains that such cells can differentiate into any kind of cell, so he now has "the raw materials."
What He Hopes to Do with Them
Johnson frames the potential uses in theoretical terms. In autoimmune gastritis, he says, his stomach is effectively eating itself and his stomach lining thins. These cells "could theoretically" be used to rebuild that lining. He extends the idea to the kidney, liver, heart, lungs or any other body part, since the cells can become those cell types. His summary is that he now has "the raw material to rebuild myself." He does not describe any treatment that has been performed with the cells.
Cost and Access
Johnson acknowledges that the technology he used was "really expensive." He argues that it can scale, and that higher volume will drive the cost down faster. He says he intends to bring the technology to the world and lower that cost curve so that anyone can have their own iPSCs created.
He places this within a broader claim. In his view, AI and biotech now allow individuals to solve their own disease. He notes that the people who have done so until now had resources and were technology-aware. His goal is to take the basic principles of what they did and make them broadly accessible.
A Different Response to Diagnosis
Johnson closes by contrasting past and present. A diagnosis used to mean being told, in effect, "well, good luck." Now, he says, a person can "stare down the disease" and think they might have a shot. He repeats that the technology is scalable and that costs should fall over time. His stated aim is that, ideally, everyone in society would have access to this raw material to repair and rebuild their bodies.
Bryan Johnson just officially announced he cloned himself as a newborn baby.
Right, biohacker Bryan Johnson claims that he has cloned himself.
The way he's going to do it is by creating a baby version of himself and like a vampire sucking the blood out of it, cutting up, harvesting all of the organs, and sacrificing the baby's life. This seems like a bad idea.
Hey friends, this week I did one of the coolest things I have done in my entire life. I took my 48-year-old cells and reversed them to zero, back to an embryonic-like state. These baby Bryans sit in a dish. Now, to be clear, this is not an embryo. This is my cells in a dish that have had their epigenetic age gone to zero.
Now, this is interesting because this follows the diagnosis and honestly, getting diagnosed with an incurable disease is one of the best things that's ever happened to me. Before this happened, my project was primarily on how to keep the body in pristine health, therapies, protocols, sleep, diet, nutrition. Since I got the diagnosis and since Kate got her diagnosis with endometriosis, the project has shifted overnight and we've been sprinting the past few weeks learning what can somebody do when they're diagnosed with a disease. And we are now shifting our efforts from the basics of longevity to focusing more on disease resolution with Kate and I being the first customers.
So, let me explain to you what we did. So, I had a blood draw of 125 ml. We then took my cells and we separated the cells and then we applied Yamanaka factors to it. This reverses the epigenetic age to zero, which then makes them into an embryonic-like state. This makes the cells induced pluripotent stem cells. This means these stem cells can differentiate into any kind of cell, which means I now have the raw materials.
So, for example, with my autoimmune gastritis, my stomach is eating itself or my stomach lining thins. These cells could theoretically be applied to rebuild my stomach lining. Or if I have something wrong with my kidney or my liver, my heart, lungs, any kind of body part, these cells can differentiate into those cell types. I now have the raw material to rebuild myself.
Now, the technology I used to create these induced pluripotent stem cells was really expensive. The good news is this technology can scale. As with all things, the more volume we have, the faster that cost curve is going to drop. And so, I'm going to try and bring this technology to the world and lower that cost curve so that everybody can get their induced pluripotent stem cells created.
So, the takeaway is that we're now at a point where you can take your own cells, take them to zero from an epigenetic standpoint. They can then be differentiated into any kind of cell type of your body, so you now have the ability to rebuild and repair your body.
We're now in an age where AI and biotech allows people, individuals, to solve their own disease. Now, the people who did this had resources, they were technology aware. So, we're trying to take the basic principles of what they've done and then make this broadly accessible.
And so, what is amazing now is when somebody gets diagnosed with something, it used to be the case where you'd say like, "Well, good luck." Now, you can actually stare down the disease and be like, "You know what? I might have a shot here."
The good news is the technology is scalable. It will allow us to bring the cost down over time so that, ideally, in society, everybody would have access to this raw material to repair and rebuild their bodies.
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