A biohacker known for live experiments injected himself with a DIY herpes treatment in front of an audience at Body Hacking Con in Austin last night.

Live experiment: Aaron Traywick performs first ever attempt at DIY herpes vaccine and cure in front of a live audience. Livestream by Ford Fischer. Part of our coverage for Transhuman: Biohackers and Immortalists Support News2Share and our film: Patreon.com/fordfischer Posted by News2Share on Sunday, February 4, 2018

Aaron Traywick, 28, who leads biotech firm Ascendance Biomedical, used an experimental herpes treatment that did not go through the typical route of clinical trials to test its safety. Instead of being developed by research scientists in laboratories, it was created by a biohacker named Andreas Stuermer, who “holds a masters degree and is a bioentrepreneur and science lover,” according to a conference bio. This is typical of the Ascendance approach. The company believes that FDA regulations for developing treatments are too slow and that having biohackers do the research and experiment on themselves can speed up the process to everyone’s benefit. In the past, the company’s plans have included trying to reverse menopause, a method that is now actually in clinical trials.

“We prefer to do everything before a live audience so you can hold us accountable in the days to come as we collect the data to prove whether or not this works,” Traywick said before last night’s spectacle. And, he added, “if we succeed with herpes in even the most minor ways, we can move forward immediately with cancer.”

Despite specifying that he wanted “technical questions,” someone in the audience asked whether Ascendance had received ethical permission for the experiment. Traywick said he didn’t. Technically, everything has been officially labeled “not for human consumption,” he said.

This isn’t the first time Traywick has encouraged self-experimentation, especially with gene therapies, which tinker with genes to treat or prevent diseases. Last October, Ascendence live-streamed a man injecting himself with an untested HIV treatment. On the same day that the BBC wrote about the experiment, the FDA released a warning against this type of DIY work to produce gene therapies. “The sale of these products is against the law,” the statement read. “FDA is concerned about the safety risks involved.” At the time, Traywick told MIT Tech Review that he thought the warning targeted him, but insisted the experiment was legal because Ascendance didn’t charge for the therapy and so it wasn’t a “sale.”

Many biohackers are transhumanists, people who want to transcend the limits of the body and make it better by becoming more like machines and living longer — maybe even forever. They claim that there has been a long history of self-experimentation in science, and that anyone should be able to contribute to the scientific process without being hobbled by institutions and regulations. Some in government, as well, believe that the FDA is too heavily regulated. The 21st Century Cures Act, for example, helps speed up drug approval, though some have said this will lower confidence in FDA-approved drugs and devices. In general, the FDA has slowly been getting weaker.

Though Traywick said that he “felt great” after the injection, it’s only been a day, so it’s unclear what the lasting effects will be. But even biohacker Josiah Zayner, known for his own DIY experiments, told Gizmodo that the event was reckless. “The idea that any scientist, biohacker or not, has created a cure for a disease with no testing and no data is more ridiculous than believing jet fuel melts steel beams,” Zayner said.

According to Tech Review, Traywick’s company is also developing a gene therapy to boost muscle mass and reduce fat.