Bryan Johnson said that he has ventured to the secluded island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras for gene therapy which he thinks can help reverse his age. The experimental treatment is worth $20,000 and is aimed at editing DNA in order to slow down aging process. In a YouTube video titled “I Edited My DNA On A Secret Island (To Live Forever)”, Bryan Johnson said, “I’m traveling to a remote island for an extreme medical procedure that could change the future of humanity.
The tech boss has earlier claimed that he has been able to reverse his biological age by five years and ages only 19 months for every 12 that pass. The millionaire has also shared that he spends nearly $2 million annually to maintain a rigorous lifestyle that helps him keep younger and fitter.
What we know about Roatan?
Roatan has the biohacking firm Minicircle which is at the forefront of gene therapy. Bryan Johnson has partnered with Minicircle to undergo follistatin gene therapy. The treatment has shown promising results in animal tests, Bryan Johnson said, adding, “In a test conducted on mice, the rodent who had undergone the gene therapy lived for 30 percent longer.”
What is the gene therapy?
Gene therapy involves subcutaneous injections of a specially designed plasmid, a loop of DNA that can be loaded with specific genes. But the therapy has some risks too, Bryan Johnson said, sharing, “If a therapy caused, say, cancer in my body, there’d be nothing I could do to reverse the process. If my body reacts badly, I can take the antibiotic tetracycline to instantly kill and deactivate the DNA molecules.”