“Biohacking” is a buzzword taking over the wellness industry. It involves making small lifestyle changes to improve overall health and longevity.

This practice has even reached Kardashian-level fame. A recent episode of The Kardashians showed Kim, Khloe, and Kris Jenner meeting with Bryan Johnson, a businessman who wrote a book on biohacking called Don’t Die. The show describes him as “the most well-known longevity specialist.”

A 2020 paper suggests that biohacking is based on the idea that what you put into your body affects how you feel. So, making healthier choices, or “inputs,” can reduce stress and improve memory, focus, performance, and productivity.

Biohacking has found an audience among people who are hyper-fixated on controlling how their bodies age. “It often stems from people viewing aging as a disease,” Deborah Kado, MD, MS, a professor of medicine at Stanford and co-director of the Stanford Longevity Center, told Verywell.

The philosophy boils down to a simple goal: avoiding aging. “You biohack in order to stave off aging through whatever means that might be, and usually, the means are more experimental,” Kado said.

Does Biohacking Actually Work?

Some tenets of biohacking may be helpful, such as eliminating alcohol, changing your diet to adhere to certain healthy foods or food groups, and taking certain medications or supplements.

Others focus on structured exercise or sleep routines. For example, Johnson advocates for intermittent fasting, a diet free of processed foods, and abstaining from alcohol.

However, experts warn that some biohacking “therapies” promoted by Johnson and other business people aren’t rooted in science, and many include experimental technology.

“Biohacking techniques often lack sufficient evidence,” Matthew Badgett, MD, a primary care and integrative medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic, told Verywell. “Although some biohacking probably is beneficial, a lot of it certainly is not.”

Johnson has discussed some of the experimental practices. He’s famously had some of his son’s blood infused into his body. Studies in mice have shown that getting blood infusions from younger mice may be beneficial, but this has not been studied in humans.

Biohackers have turned to DIY gene-editing technologies, particularly CRISPR, a tool that scientists use to modify genetic material with precision. Some have taken these genetic experiments further by injecting modified cells into their bodies, hoping to cure illnesses like herpes and HIV, enhance muscle growth, or extend lifespan. However, these practices remain unproven to work.

Some companies have marketed and sold DIY CRISPR kits, often costing hundreds of dollars, raising ethical and safety concerns about unregulated genetic modifications. In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned that these kits qualify as gene therapies, which require FDA approval for use in the United States.

What Are the Risks Associated With Biohacking at Home?

Since biohacking therapies are largely experimental and haven’t been tested in large populations, they may not be worth your time or money, Kado said.

Additionally, experimenting with untested therapies can be dangerous. This is particularly harmful when sick people use DIY science or gene modifications to self-medicate instead of using known and effective treatments.

Less severe forms of biohacking can also be harmful. For instance, it can be risky to overdo it with supplements, especially if you also take certain medications.

More is not always better, and just because a supplement is marketed as “natural” doesn’t mean it’s safe, Kado said.

Biohacking isn’t all bad or all good. Some techniques are probably safe to try, but it is crucial to run them by a doctor beforehand, especially if you have underlying health conditions or take medications.

It’s also important to remember that aging is inevitable. Kado said that biohacking has grown in popularity during a time when many adults see aging as a problem to be solved rather than a naturally occurring process. While it’s good to prioritize science-backed ways to extend your lifespan, an obsession with your biological age likely isn’t healthy.