Biohacker Bryan Johnson reveals reason he's just 'cloned himself as a baby'

Millionaire biohacker Bryan Johnson claims he has created a clone of himself as a newborn baby, saying the experiment could open up a new path to reversing aging.

The 48-year-old tech entrepreneur, known for his extreme health protocols aimed at defying death, announced the news in a post on X.

"I just cloned myself... as a newborn," he wrote.

Johnson said the tiny clone, which he referred to as 'baby-bryan', currently exists in a petri dish, but that the technology behind it could eventually let him repair his own body using genetically identical young cells and tissue.

The process relies on induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, which involves taking cells from a blood sample and reprogramming them so they behave similarly to embryonic stem cells.

Johnson described the process in his post as starting with a blood draw, followed by applying what are known as Yamanaka factors to reset the cells' epigenetic age, returning them to an embryonic-like state capable of turning into hundreds of different cell types.

The technique is a well-established research field, pioneered in the 2000s by Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka, who later won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for the discovery.

"This baby-bryan lives in a petri dish for now," Johnson said. "This may be scary to some people… a dystopian future. But, for others, they will see it as the inevitable future of health."

Why did Bryan Johnson decide to clone himself?

Johnson revealed last month that he had been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease that causes his immune system to mistakenly attack healthy cells in his stomach lining.

He said he intended to 'try and solve' the illness, arguing that advances in 'AI, multiomics, and custom-built DNA' mean no condition should be presumed incurable.

"With this clone, I can become my own blood boy, test therapies on the clone, grow organs for transplantation, develop new treatments, and inject young cells," he wrote.

He added that the diagnosis had, in an unexpected way, worked in his favor. "I mentioned getting diagnosed with an incurable disease is one of the best things that has happened to me in a long time," he said. "It's opened up a frontier of new paths to repair and strengthen the body. This is the first example."

Johnson also claimed in his post that clinical trials are already using similar cell-based technology to restore dopamine neurons in Parkinson's patients, as well as to support heart health and eyesight.

The announcement has drawn criticism from some of Johnson's followers, with one writing that he is "what happens when you give too much money to a man who is morbidly afraid of death."

Johnson has previously defended his approach to biohacking, maintaining that his experiments are intended to advance medical discovery.

Bryan Johnson has been approached for comment.

Bryan Johnson’s wildest experiments in his quest to ‘live forever’

De-aging his penis

While the thought of it may make you wince, Johnson has been putting his manhood through the wringer in the hopes of bringing back his '22-year-old penis'. From semen analysis and blood flow testing to Botox injections and shock wave therapy, he seems to have done it all.

The biohacker claimed to have been able to lower his 'erection age' by over half thanks to this long-winded ritual.

As well as keeping track of his own 'erection data', Johnson has also been controversially comparing the stats to his 19-year-old son's.

Injecting himself with his son’s blood

The biohacker went viral in 2023 after sharing that he'd come together with his then-17-year-old son and his 70-year-old father to take part in what he described as 'the world’s first multigenerational plasma exchange'.

The process saw Johnson have a litre of his blood removed and separated the plasma. He then had the same amount of his son's plasma infused into his veins.

However, after seeing 'no benefits', Johnson announced he was 'no longer injecting my son's blood'.

Instead, he said he 'upgraded' to 'total plasma exchange'.

Psychedelics

Last year, the biohacker documented his trip after taking 5g of magic mushrooms. Afterwards, he admitted he was 'happy to be alive', and the experience had 'changed' him, but 'probably not as you’d expect'.

Johnson also shared the effects of taking 27mg of the 'world’s most powerful' hallucinogenic, 5-MeO-DMT, which left him 'stunned beyond comprehension'.

An extensive morning routine

Johnson recently shared an update on what he does each morning, noting that it takes four hours and 46 minutes.

"My morning routine is always evolving as we update protocols. This is what I'm experimenting with right now," he writes on his website.

1. Wake up around 5 am

2. Oral hygiene

3. Light in eyes

4. Breath work

5. Pre-workout nutrition

6. Exercise

7. Sauna

8. Red/NIR light therapy

9. Focused shockwave therapy on joints

10. Shower

11. Hair growth serum

12. Skincare

13. Breakfast