The biohackers promote changes in the body to improve its performance in many ways and even get superhuman abilities.

The word hacker has become well known and is difficult to find someone who does not know the meaning of the concept or do not know who are the persons identified by the term. But what biohacking, have you heard? Biohacking is the practice of mixing biology with the hacker ethic, in other words, is the technique to hack your own body, in order to promote changes in your body until he can do things that did not before, even getting skills considered superhuman.

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Among the objectives are: modifying the body to acquire special abilities, as see in the dark, control electronics with their hands, feel electromagnetic fields or even become more intelligent, productive and focused. There are improvements to the body and mind. When we talk about biohacking, it is common to think first of the people who make modifications in the body, implanting chips or magnetic components. However, it also has a lot of people using the technique to hack the body for other purposes without performing any implant, such as having more energy.

This can happen to change the food, drink special supplements, among other actions that we will see throughout this article. That is, the biohacking technique is not limited to the junction of a biological body and an electronic component, but also to external elements. You do not have to turn into a cyborg to be a biohacker but if you want, this is a choice that only concerns you.

There are basically two main strands to biohacking:

1 - Interactive Approach: in this case, to improve the body, people use implants that improve their ability, for example, injecting a substance into the eyes to get night vision. These biohackers are called Grinders.

2 - non-interactive approach: in this case, are used external elements to improve the performance of the person, as the use of blue light to sleep more soundly, do intermittent fasting in order to increase energy levels, among others.

Many supporters to biohacking, identify with the biopunk movement as trans-humanism: belief that it is possible to fundamentally alter the human condition through the use of technology and make a superior human being.

<h2>Appearance</h2>

The term biohacker began to appear around 1998, gaining momentum in recent years due to technological advances. But even before this, William Gibson, one of his most famous novels of the cyberpunk genre, Neromancer, had written about the technique. The book was first published in 1984 and with a totally futuristic thinking and unrealistic that Gibson lived, he has described examples of cyborgs (Cyber ​​+ Organism = junction between a biological body and electronic components, which can live in perfect harmony) . Among them is Molly. I had an implant on the eye, which worked like a Google, where she got the answers she needed. The city of Chiba, where develops part of the plot, was considered key location for the placement of neural implants and performing other bodily changes. A mechanical arm, claws to come out beneath the nails, whatever is desired change in the body, in Chiba people could.

But this is just one example among many others that science fiction books and movies have brought in about biohackings, although still without being labeled. Other well-known movie characters are Robocop, Inspector Gadget, Megamen and Mortal Kombat Hydro, are all cyborgs. It seems something quite surreal to think that such people can be with us right? But cyborgs already left the big screen and lived with us for some time. Of course not exactly as we read in books or see in movies, but as we will see below, there are people doing crazy experiments as well - or not - to make unusual abilities to humans.

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<h2>Night vision</h2>

In 2015, an biohackers group in Los Angeles decided to test a sustenance to be able to see in the dark. One of the researchers, Gabriel Licina, served as a guinea pig for the experiment. In his eyes it was injected 50 ml of EC6, a substance that can be found in fish that inhabit the abyssal depths. The liquid is usually used as a way to treat blindness and also the difficulty some people have in seeing in places with low light.

The experiment began to give results approximately one hour after application of the substance. When placed in a dark field, Licina started initially to recognize shapes and symbols that were 10 meters. But over time, we could see people who were 50 meters away, and some trees. While under the influence of EC6, the eyes of the researcher were completely black, but it was not registered any serious side effect, and his vision returned to normal the next day.

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<h2>Listen colors</h2>

Neil Harbisson is one of the most famous biohackers. He was born with a rare syndrome that does not allow to distinguish colors. All he looks, he sees in black and white. To solve the problem, Harbisson resorted to biohacking. With the help of doctors, he developed and implemented a system that allows you to hear the colors.

Attached to his head, the camera produces a sound for each color type recognized by the machine. Each color vibrates at a frequency. Over time, the brain Neil passed to associate all sound color. He even dreaming in color, with the brain itself creating the sounds to which he was used.

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<h2>Proximity communication chips</h2>

Have you thought about power unlock the front door without the use of keys? This is just one of the possibilities that can be performed with the implantation of a communication chip proximity in your body, the Dangerous Things. It is the size of a grain of rice and you can even use it as a blocker of the ignition of your motor vehicle, 

The kit for deploying the chip in the body contains, in addition to the chip, syringe, gloves, wound dressing and a small amount of antiseptic. It can be applied at home, but if biohacker not feel safe to make the application can take the kit in a studio where you put piercings.

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<h2>Amplified hearing</h2>

The biohacker Rich Lee created a way to increase the sensitivity of their hearing after discovering that lose vision due to a health problem. He installed in his ears internal magnets which serve as amplifiers, together with an appropriate collar that is plugged into a sound system. The vibration sent by cable to this necklace reverberates in the ears magnets and makes Lee can hear music normally without the need to put the headphones on the ear.

I would not advise to do it at home because the magnets placed inside the ear generate serious risk of infection.

<h2>Bio metric chip</h2>

Tim Cannon implanted in his arm a chip that sends your biometric data, such as body temperature, for your smartphone. The problem, or not, is that the device implanted beneath your skin is not a microchip, having very large proportions.

But Cannon sees no problem and it already provides improvements to the device. He hopes that in the future it is possible for example, the chip identified he had a stressful day and send a message to your home, requesting that she prepare a more relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere for when you get in the room, such as dimming the lights and prepare a Hot shower.

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<h2>You can be a biohacker without you knowing</h2>

But not all the changes made in the body need to be so radical. There are well known examples of biohacking and that you might not imagine that fit into the current. As an example, contraceptives chips. The contraceptive is implanted under the skin of the buttocks or the patient's arm, containing a quantity of the hormone. The small device is scheduled to release a certain dose of this hormone in the blood of the patient flow every month. The method, in addition to preventing pregnancy, also promises to regulate the effects of PMS, cut the occurrence of menstruation, avoid large variations in weight and even regular women's mood.


The practice of biohacking started many years ago - without this setting - something that today we share. The degree of glasses. In the first century, some scholars cut moonstones in thin sheets and created the first prescription glasses to see up close. This can be considered an example of non-interactive biohacking, after all, is making use of a technique to correct or improve something in the human body (the eye), however no intervention in the body.

After about 1400 years this way, Leonardo da Vinci had the idea of applying the corrective lenses directly on the surface of the eye. The first contact lenses took over about 300 years to be created, but Leonardo Da Vinci, with this initial idea, it was a biohacking without even knowing.

Contact lenses are examples of biohacking that are between interactive and non-interactive. Because you do not deploy definitely, but you take them and place in the body when you want.

Of course these last examples refer to techniques that currently have commercial use, are accompanied by professionals and are not restricted to the DIY (Do It Yourself - DIY), strong feature of biohacking. But when the eyeglasses and contact lenses were created, they did not come from any organization or institution, but the will of people who identified a problem in the human body and have dedicated themselves to try to find a solution.

<h2>Focus and energy for the day to day</h2>

Dave Asprey is another known example of biohacker. But unlike the others mentioned above, it has no chip implanted under the skin or put some substance in the eye. Changing routine habits, how to pass using a glasses with orange lenses to sleep and listen to binaural sounds, he began to have more focus and feel more energetic. But it's not just these two attitudes that Asprey began to feel more willingly. On a trip to Tibet in 2004, he proved a local drink made with tea and yak butter to combat the effects of altitude. Soon after tasting it, it was with a never before seen power. So back to the United States began to try to replicate the drink. That's when the famous Café bulletproof appeared (coffee with butter), widely used by those who want to achieve high performance.

Asprey has made biohacking their profession, selling books, giving lectures and grossing up of experiments that makes himself.

<h2>Danger</h2>

One of biohacking features is that it is usually developed by individuals and small businesses, getting away from institutions or professional supervision. Since its inception it follows the chain of DIY (Do It Yourself - do it yourself), because the idea is precisely this that in the future everyone can make changes in the body without the need for scientists. However, this creates great risks for the health of the individual, since the experiments often happen in their own houses biohackers, without the accompaniment of any professional or specific care.

Therefore it is necessary to be cautious. The experiments mentioned above have worked, but there is always the risk of an infection occur or an even more serious problem to move with the body. But science evolves too and will not cause me strangeness in the future humanity able to transform what you want in any living organism. And you, what do you think of this?