Body hacking

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

{{Cite web|title=Biohackers are implanting LEDs under their skin |work=Motherboard|date=9 November 2015 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/biohackers-are-implanting-led-lights-under-their-skin/

}} or by introducing biochemicals.

{{Cite web |title=This Biohacker Used Eyedrops to Give Himself Temporary Night Vision |work=Gizmodo |date=27 March 2016 |url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/this-biohacker-used-eyedrops-to-give-himself-temporary-1694016390}}

Grinders are a self-identified community of body hackers. Many grinders identify with the biopunk movement, open-source transhumanism, and techno-progressivism.{{Cite web| title = Who We Are| work = wiki.biohack.me| access-date = 30 November 2012| date = 28 August 2012| url = http://wiki.biohack.me/Who_We_Are}}{{Cite web| title = DIYBio Codes| work = DIYBio| access-date = 30 November 2012| year = 2011

| url = http://diybio.org/codes/}} 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.{{cite web|last=Popper|first=Ben|title=Cyborg America: inside the strange new world of basement body hackers|url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/8/8/3177438/cyborg-america-biohackers-grinders-body-hackers|work=Verge Magazine|date=8 August 2012|access-date=30 November 2012}}{{Cite web| title = Body Modifications and Bio-Hacking| work = wiki.biohack.me| access-date = 30 November 2012| date = 21 May 2012| url = http://wiki.biohack.me/Body_Modifications_and_Bio-Hacking}} Biohacking emerged in a growing trend of non-institutional science and technology development.{{Cite web

|last = Greg Boustead|title = The Biohacking Hobbyist|work = Seed Magazine|access-date = 11 July 2010|date = 11 December 2008|url = http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_biohacking_hobbyist/|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090322191741/http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/the_biohacking_hobbyist/|url-status = unfit|archive-date = 22 March 2009}}{{Cite web| last = Phil McKenna| title = Rise of the garage genome hackers| work = New Scientist| access-date = 11 July 2010| date = 7 January 2009| url = https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126881.400-genetic-manpulation-now-becoming-a-hobby.html?full=true&print=true}}{{Cite web| last = Patti Schiendelman| title = DIYBio for biohackers| work = Make: Online| access-date = 11 July 2010| date = 1 January 2009| url = http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/diybio_for_biohackers.html| archive-date = 15 March 2010| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100315101335/http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/diybio_for_biohackers.html| url-status = dead}}

"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).{{Cite web

|last = Glen Martin|title = 'Biohackers' mining their own bodies' data|work = SF Gate|access-date = 30 November 2012|date = 28 June 2012|url = http://www.sfgate.com/health/article/Biohackers-mining-their-own-bodies-data-3668230.php}}

Ideology

Grinders largely identify with transhumanist and biopunk ideologies.{{Cite web|last=Meredith L. Patterson|title=A Biopunk Manifesto|work=Outlaw Biology? Public Participation in the Age of Big Bio.|access-date=30 November 2012|date=30 January 2010|url=http://maradydd.livejournal.com/496085.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001040922/http://maradydd.livejournal.com/496085.html|archive-date=1 October 2012}} Transhumanism is the belief that it is both possible and desirable to so fundamentally alter the human condition through the use of technologies so as to inaugurate a superior post-human being.{{cite journal|last=Bostrom|first=Nick|title=A History of Transhumanist Thought|journal=Journal of Evolution and Technology|year=2005|url=http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf|access-date=30 November 2012}}{{cite book|last=Hayles|first=Katherine|title=How we became posthuman: virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics|year=1999|publisher=University of Chicago Press|location=Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-32139-4}}{{Cite web| last = Katherine Hayles| title = H-: Wrestling with Transhumanism| work = MetaNexus| access-date = 30 November 2012| date = 11 September 2011| url = http://www.metanexus.net/essay/h-wrestling-transhumanism}} Kara Platoni categorizes such technological modifications as "hard" biohacking, noting the desire to expand the boundaries of human perception and even create "new senses".{{cite journal|last1=Czuba|first1=Killian|title=Fast Forward|journal=Distillations |date=2017|volume=2|issue=4|pages=44–45|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/fast-forward|access-date=24 March 2018}}{{cite book|last1=Platoni|first1=Kara|title=We Have the Technology: How Biohackers, Foodies, Physicians, and Scientists Are Transforming Human Perception, One Sense at a Time|date=8 December 2015|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0465089970|pages=7, 237–254|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Aay6CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT7|access-date=18 July 2017}}

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.{{cite web| author = Newitz, Annalee| title = Biopunk| year = 2001 | url = http://www.sfbg.com/SFLife/tech/71.html | access-date=26 January 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20021220190353/http://www.sfbg.com/SFLife/tech/71.html |archive-date = 20 December 2002| author-link = Annalee Newitz}}{{cite web| author = Newitz, Annalee| title = Genome Liberation| year = 2002| url = http://www.salon.com/2002/02/26/biopunk/singleton/| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130202102133/http://www.salon.com/2002/02/26/biopunk/singleton/| url-status = dead| archive-date = 2 February 2013| access-date = 26 January 2007}} Like other punk movements, biopunk encourages the DIY ethic.{{cite journal|url = http://jdh.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/19/1/69|title = Oxford Journal of Design History Webpage| journal=Journal of Design History | date=March 2006 | volume=19 | issue=1 | pages=69–83 | doi=10.1093/jdh/epk006 |access-date = 24 September 2007|quote = "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." | last1=Triggs | first1=Teal | url-access=subscription }} "Grinders" adhere to an anarchist strain of biopunk that emphasizes non-hierarchical science and DIY.{{citation needed|date=July 2021}}

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.{{cite book|last=Gray|first=Chris Hables|title=The Cyborg Handbook|year=1995|publisher=Routledge|location=New York|isbn=978-0415908498}} 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. Examples of this include DIY magnetic fingertip implants or Warwick's "Project Cyborg".{{cite web|last=Warwick|first=Kevin|title=Implants and Technology: The Future of Healthcare?|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8HeFNJjuj0|work=TEDxWarwick|date=22 March 2012 |publisher=TED|access-date=30 November 2012}}{{cite web|title=Projects|url=http://www.grindhousewetware.com/projects-1|work=Grindhouse Wetware|access-date=30 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120827003108/http://www.grindhousewetware.com/projects-1|archive-date=27 August 2012}} 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".{{cite journal|last=Clynes|first=Manfred|author2=Klines|title=Nathan|journal=Astronautics|date=September 1960}} This body of theory criticizes the rigidity of ontological boundaries and attempts to denaturalize artificial dichotomies.

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.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{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/professor-has-worlds-first-silicon-chip-implant-1174101.html|title = Professor has world's first silicon chip implant|website = Independent.co.uk|date = 25 August 1998}}
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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-xnt-implantable-nfc-chip|title=The xNT implantable NFC chip|website=Indiegogo|language=en-US|access-date=26 May 2017}} In 2013, he founded the biotech startup company Dangerous Things.{{Cite web|url=http://www.dangerousthings.com|title=Dangerous Things|website=Dangerous Things|language=en-us|access-date=26 May 2017}} He is also the author of RFID Toys{{Cite web|url=http://rfidtoys.com/|title=RFID Toys|last=|first=|date=|website=amzn.to|access-date=26 May 2017}} and speaker on biohacking topics, including a TEDx{{Citation|last=TEDx Talks|title=Biohacking – the forefront of a new kind of human evolution: Amal Graafstra at TEDxSFU|date=17 October 2013|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DxVWhFLI6E |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/7DxVWhFLI6E |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=5 May 2016}}{{cbignore}} talk. He has also built a smartgun that is activated by his implants.{{Citation|last=Motherboard|title=Who Killed the Smart Gun?|date=23 March 2017|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXtqBVbxmto&t=33m39s |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/sXtqBVbxmto |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=26 May 2017}}{{cbignore}} He has created an implantable cryptographic processor called VivoKey{{Cite web|url=http://vivokey.com/|title=Vivokey – The future is waiting...|website=vivokey.com|language=en|access-date=26 May 2017}} for personal identity and cryptography applications.
Lepht Anonym is a biohacker and transhumanist known for self-surgeries and material implementation of transhumanist ideologies.{{cite magazine|last=Borland|first=John|title=Transcending the Human, DIY Style|url=https://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/12/transcending-the-human-diy-style/|magazine=Wired Magazine|access-date=30 November 2012}}
Winslow Strong is a mathematician and physicist.{{cite web|last=Strong|first=Winslow|title=Winslow's Bio|url=http://biohackyourself.com/winslows-bio/|work=Biohack Yourself: Transcend Your Limits|access-date=3 December 2013}}
Tim Cannon is a software developer, entrepreneur, and co-founder of biotech startup company Grindhouse Wetware.{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/diy-cyborg/|title=The DIY Cyborg – VICE|date=31 October 2013 |publisher=}}
Jeffrey Tibbetts is the organiser of the Grindfest events at his lab in California. He is the founder of Symbiont Labs, a custom implant fabrication facility and implantation clinic. His work has been featured in a number of sources, such as Gizmodo.{{Cite web|url=https://gizmodo.com/the-real-science-behind-the-crazy-night-vision-eyedrops-1694955347|title=The Real Science Behind the Crazy Night Vision Eyedrops|date=2 April 2015|website=Gizmodo}}
Alex Smith is a biohacker known for his work developing new implants, such as the Firefly implants.{{Cite web|url=https://forum.biohack.me/index.php?p=/discussion/1470/firefly-tattoos|title=Firefly Tattoos|website=Biohack.me|date=24 April 2016 }} He has spoken at various conferences, including DEFCON,{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSzUwF9RfJw |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211214/jSzUwF9RfJw |archive-date=14 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=DEF CON 23 – BioHacking Village – Alex Smith – Cloning Access Cards to Implants|website=YouTube|date=8 December 2015 }}{{cbignore}} and been featured in a number of news articles.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/biohackers-use-electronic-tattoos-to-create-sixth-sense/83573/|title=Human Body Merges with Technology in 'Biohacking' Trend|first1=Tammy|last1=Leitner|first2=Lisa|last2=Capitanini • •|date=21 September 2015 }}
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.{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/vibrating-penises-bionic-arms-real-8063214|title=Vibrating penises and bionic arms: The inventions turning people into CYBORGS|first=Sophie|last=Curtis|website=Daily Mirror|date=27 May 2016|publisher=}}{{cite news|url=http://s.telegraph.co.uk/graphics/projects/the-future-is-android/|title=The real cyborgs – in-depth feature about people merging with machines|newspaper=Telegraph.co.uk|publisher=}}{{cite web|url=http://www.marketwatch.com/story/biohackers-implant-computers-earbuds-and-antennas-in-their-bodies-2016-02-10|title=Biohackers implant computers, earbuds and antennas in their bodies|first=Jurica|last=Dujmovic|date=10 February 2016 |publisher=}}{{cite web|url=https://mic.com/articles/125205/body-modification-is-the-future-of-modern-medicine#.inr25LuAa|title=These Young Cyborgs Are Building the Future of Modern Medicine|first=|last=|date=14 September 2015 |publisher=}}
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.{{cite web|last1=Regalado|first1=Antonio|title=One man's quest to hack his own genes|url=https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603217/one-mans-quest-to-hack-his-own-genes/|publisher=MIT Technology Review|access-date=23 April 2017|language=en}}
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.{{cite news |publisher=BuzzFeed News |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/lanesainty/ticket-fine-for-opal-card-biohacker |title=A Self-Described "Cyborg" Who Got A Travel Card Chip Implanted In His Hand Just Got A Ticket Fine |first=Lane |last=Sainty |date=15 March 2018}} He also ran against Barnaby Joyce in the Division of New England.
Jo Zayner attempted a full fecal microbiota transplant on herself in February 2016.{{Cite web |last1=Duhaime-Ross |first1=Arielle |title=A Bitter Pill |work=The Verge |date=4 May 2016 |url=https://www.theverge.com/2016/5/4/11581994/fmt-fecal-matter-transplant-josiah-zayner-microbiome-ibs-c-diff |access-date=14 June 2016 }} She is also the founder of the ODIN, a company that delivers DIY-biology and genetic modification kits to consumers.
Kai Castledine – Founder of UK-based KSEC, one of the largest international distributors of biohacking implants including Dangerous Things and VivoKey. He also helped establish a global network of professional implant providers via the KSEC Cyborg Centers.{{cite news |last= |first= |title=Severance is coming true: inside the real offices microchipping employees |url=https://www.cityam.com/severance-is-coming-true-inside-the-real-offices-microchipping-employees/ |publisher=City A.M. |date=2022}}

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.{{Cite web|date=19 February 2016|title=Au pays des espèces en voie de disparition|url=https://www.lesechos.fr/2016/02/au-pays-des-especes-en-voie-de-disparition-1230493|access-date=16 June 2021|website=Les Echos|language=fr}} He has also hosted several "implant parties", where interested parties can get chips implanted.{{Cite news|date=10 December 2014|title=The rise of the Swedish cyborgs|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30144072|access-date=16 June 2021}}
Artem Vasilev is a Russian biohacker. In 2018, he opened his own biohacking laboratory, spending more than $2 million, together with partners.{{Cite web|date=18 February 2020|title=Body work: Russia's 'biohackers' push boundaries|url=https://techxplore.com/news/2020-02-body-russia-biohackers-boundaries.html|website=Tech Xplore}}{{Cite web|date=15 October 2019|title=Who got Russian business hooked on biohacking|url=https://incrussia.ru/concoct/biohacking-lab/|website=Inc.|language=ru}} Vasilev has a decade of experience optimizing health and performance for executives and professional athletes, including Olympic medalists.{{Cite web|date=4 June 2019|title=Ten Successful Biohacking Companies and Startups|url=https://moscow.biohacking.events/en/article/desyatka-uspeshnih-kompaniy-i-startapov-v-oblasti-biohakinga-chast-1-98684|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804044647/https://moscow.biohacking.events/en/article/desyatka-uspeshnih-kompaniy-i-startapov-v-oblasti-biohakinga-chast-1-98684|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 August 2020|website=Biohacking Conference Moscow}}

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

References

External links

[http://wiki.biohack.me/Grinder_Resource_Library Grinder Resource Library]
[http://www.cyberpunked.org/bpkdir Biopunk directory]
[https://www.transhumanist.com/ Transhumanist resources]

=Videos=

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hooCOl2syk Richard Thieme, "Hacking, biohacking and the future of humanity"]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0WIgU7LRcI "Biohackers: a journey into cyborg America"]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJQvvVgbVY8 Kevin Warwick, "The last remaining hurdles to cyborg technology"]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8HeFNJjuj0 Kevin Warwick, "Implants and technology—the future of healthcare?"]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cx45D9aWEeY Kevin Warwick, "Cyborg interfaces"]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwMQy-z8Bq0 RBC Trends: "How to make yourself more powerful: what is biohacking?"]

Category:Biology and culture

Category:Biopunk

Category:Hacker culture

Category:Subcultures

Category:Transhumanism