2022 Biohacking Conference | What did I personally invest in?
Talia Grace Haller
Future of Health Speaker & AI Strategy Consultant | NIH All of Us | Johns Hopkins Bioinformatics Researcher | Ex-Deloitte
The Biohacking Conference is an action-packed three-day event dedicated to pushing the limits of human advancement, performance, and longevity. It’s about human optimization: how can you be the best version of yourself? Of course, there are so many facets to this: biological, physical, functional, energy, sleep, mental, emotional, sexual, nutrition, aging, etc.
Though there are a number of different definitions, biohacking has been described as consumer or do-it-yourself biology. Biohacking has received some negative attention for unsafe experimentation. However, for many, “biohacking” consists of making small, incremental diet or lifestyle changes based on data/science to see improvements in health and well-being for a variety of purposes, from better sleep or improved memory to optimized nutrition and less noticeable aging.
The conference is hosted by Dave Asprey, who, often lauded as the “Father of Biohacking”, has devoted his life to “elevating human performance” using the latest scientific research in combination with ancient healing traditions. Asprey has a very interesting backstory. He was a successful entrepreneur who sold his first company for $6 million when he was only 26. Despite being extremely smart, rich, and successful, he found himself overweight (297 lbs), unhealthy, and unhappy. He went on a mission to “biohack” himself, losing over 100 pounds, increasing his IQ, and gaining an enormous following as he, often successfully, performs self-experiments with the latest scientific findings and therapies.
My interest in biohacking stems from the following:
Despite all the cool science/research products, experiences, and innovations available to explore in the conference’s epic technology playground, I still believe (and research agrees) that nothing compensates for the basics. If you truly want to optimize your health, make sure you are doing the basics first:
I will be writing a separate article on “the basics” soon but I cannot emphasize enough that adding special biohacking techniques to your life before making sure the basics are taken care of is like adding a special fertilizer to improve your garden when you’ve forgotten to water it and kept in a dark room away from the sun/light. Even with supplements, your garden’s growth would be extremely stunted. Advanced biohacking enhances and optimizes; it doesn’t replace the essentials.
All of that being said, there were so many innovative and interesting technologies to explore. I had an amazing time running around the technology playground (and literally felt like a little kid)!!
Let me start with the products I personally invested in: diagnostic tests.
Since I am relatively new to the biohacking community, I wanted to get started with products that give me more data about my body and what I may need to focus on when it comes to optimization. As a data-driven person, I have little interest in taking a supplement just because it “improves energy” or “boosts performance”. I need to know what it’s doing, the specific pathways it’s affecting, and, importantly for me, whether I even need what it’s providing. The other important things to consider with biohacking is how to incorporate it, how long/often you should use it, and how you should monitor impact over time.
For example, Vitamin C is known to increase immunity generally. But, in my mind, this doesn’t mean I should just start taking Vitamin C everyday for the rest of my life. Instead, I would like to understand my current Vitamin C levels, have a plan for experimenting with a Vitamin C supplement (i.e. take 1 Vitamin C supplement each day for 60 days), a plan for monitoring the associated Vitamin C levels and/or biomarkers (i.e. measure Vitamin C levels with an at-home urinalysis test once a week throughout experiment), and a plan for assessing any positive therapeutic effects or any adverse reactions experienced. You should know the healthy range for whatever biomarker you are testing and be prepared to stop your experiment or consult a physician if you find yourself out of range. Once I’ve completed the experiment, I can then assess the supplement’s impact and decide whether I want to incorporate it into my regular routine, and, if I do, how to incorporate it and what my longer-term monitoring plan will be.
This may sound extensive and to each his own. But for me, it’s worth it to take the time to truly understand what I need and how something impacts me over time before using it regularly. In many cases, dealing with the negative repercussions of something that may have actually caused harm will require a lot more time, effort, and money. It will also be much less of a choice.
Knowing Labs provides CLIA-certified at-home diagnostic tests for everything from hormone testing and food sensitivity, to an inflammation panel and stress biomarker testing. Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) is a government program that regulates lab testing of human specimens and ensures that labs provide accurate, reliable, and timely patient test results.
At the conference, I bought two tests for fun:
A nurse actually helped me do the collection at their booth (2 blood samples and a saliva sample). However, upon receiving the results about 2 weeks later, the food test felt a little off and the female hormone test showed two extremely abnormal values, which I am now exploring further with my Primary Care doctor to determine whether the test was inaccurate or has actually helped me uncover something I need to take action on.
Given my own experience so far, I’m undecided on whether I would recommend these tests and am still doing some digging on my own results and the accuracy of at-home diagnostic tests. However, in theory, I love the idea of at-home diagnostics tests, especially as these become more and more affordable. It is so important that consumers have the power to 1) understand themselves on a deeper level from their own home, 2) test regularly as a preventative measure without a doctor appointment or referral. If they do discover something abnormal, as I did, they can seek additional guidance from a medical professional.
At the conference, I bought two Full Body Intelligence test kits ($315 each) so I can test myself now and then in 6-10 months to see if there’s a difference. According to Viome, these tests provide “the most advanced holistic health and microbiome-based test ever commercially available and offer actionable recommendations to optimize digestion, immunity, oral health, cardiovascular health, mental health, and internal aging.” Due to all the new things I ate and/or experimented with at the conference, I wanted to wait a few weeks to get back into my normal eating and exercise pattern before collecting samples. I just sent the samples in and am awaiting results!! (Separate article coming soon.)
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Insight the test claims to provide:
Viome is an innovative company I have been following for years. With a goal to “honor the biochemical individuality of every human”, Viome is really trying to push the needle in terms of personalized care solutions. It has developed a proprietary RNA sequencing technology leveraging extensive scientific research from top institutes (Harvard, Stanford, MIT).
Viome has also received FDA breakthrough device designation for its mRNA analysis technology and AI platform that detect early signs of oral and throat cancer. This is an incredible advance and something that hadn’t previously been done. I am very excited to follow this company’s journey into personalized medicine.
If you are considering diet changes or supplements, I highly recommend first exploring your personal microbiome, either through Viome’s test kits or other testing. Everything is connected. The biology of a human body is a dynamic interplay between complex cellular, molecular, organ, and tissue systems, all of which can be impacted by the different nutrients and toxins that can come from the diet or be produced by the trillions of microbes that live in us. To take precise action with food or supplements, a true “Systems Biology” approach is needed. This allows you to quantify, manipulate, and track the cellular and microbial pathways, which reveal how molecules are made or used, which functions in the body can get stimulated or suppressed as a result, and how it all can be manipulated by your diet.
According to Viome, around 90% of chronic diseases can be linked to the microbiome. It’s a popular misconception that certain microbes are “good” or “bad”. We now know that the same microbe can be beneficial in one person and harmful in another, depending on the ecosystem they live in. Viome looks not only at composition (which microbes are present) but also their function (what are they doing).
Viome focuses on mRNA (how your genes are transcripted and then expressed, which changes over time) instead of DNA (your genetic code, which does not change throughout your life). By focusing on mRNA over time, you can see how your diet affects gene expression with the goal of optimizing your health through dietary improvements.
Though Viome is an innovative and mission-driven company, remember to think critically about your test results and take everything with a grain of salt.
At the conference, this company was actually providing free salivary screenings and I eagerly took part! The Sillha Oral Wellness System describes itself as “a breakthrough approach to salivary screening, oral care, and overall wellness.” It is a quick 5-minute process to collect a saliva sample, run the test, and have a report that looks at seven different biomarkers associated with oral wellness: 1) Cariogenic Bacteria, 2) Acidity, 3) Buffer Capacity, 4) Blood, 5) Leukocyte, 6) Protein, and 7) Ammonia.
Oral health is connected to overall wellness. Early detection and treatment of cavities and gum disease (gingivitis), which can turn into a more severe gum disease called periodontitis, is important because oral disease leads to higher risks of many conditions (Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, cancers, and other inflammatory conditions).
Interestingly enough, my results did align well with my personal oral history. My cariogenic bacteria level, which measures the number of bacteria in your mouth that cause tooth decay, was 1/100 (i.e. virtually none). My acidity level was low, reflecting a basic pH environment that is more resistant to tooth decay. My buffer capacity, which measures your ability to neutralize acids from food and drinks, was high at 75/100. These factors would indicate someone not prone to cavities and, in alignment with these results, I have actually never had a cavity. (I also don’t drink coffee and very rarely drink soda or eat sugary foods, which is probably also a contributing factor.)
While interesting to see the results as a consumer, the true use case for this screening is in dentist clinics, which often rely on obtaining a patient history using basic questions and an oral assessment to make recommendations. This salivary screening can act as a new in-office tool that captures key biomarkers for the health care provider to make an informed decision about a patient’s oral environment without relying on an accurate patient history.
Also, if you’re interested in learning more about your oral health as a consumer, you can explore bristle’s oral health tests ($150 for a single test; cheaper options are available for subscription packages). Though I am curious, I have not personally tried these tests, which claim to measure the 100+ bacteria in your saliva that contribute to tooth decay, gum inflammation, and bad breath, then provide personalized recommendations and one-on-one coaching with an Oral Health Specialist.
4) DNA 360
Publicly available since 2018, the DNA Company’s signature product is their DNA 360 Test ($399) that takes a saliva sample, scans it using 4.7 billion data points, and generates 38 comprehensive health reports. The company claims to provide recommendations on sleep, diet, hormones, fitness, cardiovascular system, mood, immunity, detox, and more based on your unique DNA.
While I was very tempted to purchase the test at the conference, I decided to wait and do some additional research before buying. I am still researching but hope to do some sort of genetic diagnostic test soon.
This test performs four different types of testing: genotype sequencing (SNPs), INDEL testing, CNV testing, and sanger sequencing (for the APOE SNPs). You can visit research.thednacompany.com to view the full list of articles and published trials that the company uses to identify all of the genes and pathways they include in their analayis.
To be clear, this test does not provide whole genome sequencing, which looks at all the information in your three billion base pairs of DNA. The SNP analysis only looks at specific locations in DNA where relevant information can be gathered. While this is a great place to start (especially since whole genome sequencing is still a growing field with many undiscovered insights), if you do want a test kit with whole genome sequencing, check out Nebula Genomics. This company provides at-home whole genome sequencing tests and was founded by George Church, a pioneer in personal genomics and a renowned Harvard professor.
Imagine our DNA is like an ancient language. At this point in time, we can recognize certain letters and even a few sentences but we are nowhere near understanding the full meaning, which is why whole genome sequencing may be overkill at this point in time. However, with AI and accelerated computing, we are starting to pick up momentum. Read my article on key takeaways from the 2022 Precision Health Conference to learn more about recent advances in genome sequencing and what it may mean for the future of health.
Given the overwhelming number of innovative products to explore at the Biohacking Conference, I will be writing a separate article on cool products that I would like to explore further. Thank you for reading. Please drop a comment if you have any ideas, questions, or cool biohacking experiences to share!
I would love to be there, maybe at the next one.
Co-Founder at Bristle
2yIt was great meeting you, Talia! Thanks so much for the shoutout 🙌