'Citizen Bio': Who's Josiah Zayner? NASA scientist-turned-biohacker injected himself with CRISPR to grow bigger
Showtime's latest documentary 'Citizen Bio' takes a fascinating look into the world of biohacking. Of all the individuals we meet and learn about in the documentary, there are a few who stand out. One is definitely Aaron Traywick, on whom the documentary focuses primarily. The self-proclaimed biohacker was found unconscious in a sensory deprivation isolation tank in a float spa while under the influence of ketamine in February 2018. Another interesting person we meet is Tristan Roberts, a biohacker who injected himself with untested HIV gene therapy while live streaming on Facebook in October 2017.
But Tristan Roberts is not the only biohacker who gained fame for testing experimental therapies on himself. Josiah Zayner is a former NASA scientist. He worked on genetically engineering organisms to help with space travel but quit the organization and went on to find and head The ODIN, which sells DIY gene-editing kits. He holds a PhD in biochemistry and biophysics. Zayner gained notoriety when he live-streamed injecting himself with gene-editing CRISPR technology to give himself bigger muscles. He has since stated that he regretted doing so in an interview with The Atlantic, and called the stunt "social activism" gone awry. Zayner did not see any growth in the size of his arm and the test to detect changes in his DNA was inconclusive.
The ODIN offers an array of DIY kits allowing consumers to genetically engineer frogs, brew fluorescent beer with jellyfish DNA and conduct other related experiments from the comfort of their own home. According to Zayner, when he spoke to Technology Networks, people were highly interested and hundreds signed up for the company's genetic engineering classes. Perhaps one of the most absurd things that Zayner (or any biohacker, really) had done was when he did a DIY fecal transplant and invited an audience to watch him do it.
In May 2019, the California Department of Consumer Affairs launched an investigation into Zayner after a complaint was launched against him for practicing medicine without a license. He was facing up to three years in prison and $10,000 in fines. However, by September that year, he was informed that the medical board had dropped its investigation against him and that no further action was to be anticipated.
In 2020, Zayner is looking into the biggest need of the year — a vaccine against the Covid-19 virus. Earlier this year, he tweeted, "Our DIY Covid-19 DNA vaccine showed neutralizing antibodies in all three individuals, Me, @DavidIshee7 @yanegringo That was exciting but our goal was to teach people how to test expression in human cells, perform ELISAs &c. and that was also a success." However, Zayner found that testing for vaccines was more complicated than he previously thought and that there were far too many unanswered questions to know whether the homemade vaccine had worked.
Before starting his own experiment, Zayner initially took a test that showed him he didn’t have antibodies. But after his experiment, Zayner found that he did have some antibodies, just not enough to produce a positive result on an antibodies test. While those antibodies didn’t appear to be the neutralizing type, he wondered whether the result came because the vaccine was picking up signals from antibodies to a different virus.
In an interview with Bloomberg after the announcement, Zayner said his turn at vaccine testing has tempered his appetite for DIY human experimentation. He believes that DIY experiments still have a role to play, but he would be taking a break from experimenting on himself. His next project will focus on showing people how to grow chicken cells to make their own fake meat.
'Citizen Bio' premiered on Showtime on Friday, October 30, at 9/8c.
