Bryan Johnson: I Just Took the Most Powerful Dose of DMT in the World... Here's What It Was Like

Brian Johnson, thanks for being here. Yeah, it's good to see you. How are you. feeling? Maybe just share with us what. you did a few days ago and. >> Yeah, I did. a I did 5-MeO-DMT, which is the most powerful psychedelic. on the planet. Somewhere between 5 and 10 times more. powerful than DMT. And so, yeah, I it's so it's been 48. hours. I'm still learning how to talk. about it. You know what many of the biggest tech.

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So, when we when I started this project. 5 years ago, the the approach we had was. go through all of the scientific. evidence ever published on health and. longevity. Try to find the interventions. that have the best evidence. And for effect size and we just went. down the list from top performing on. down. So, of course you start with. exercise, nutrition, you know, sleep. And you work your way down to. things like hyperbaric oxygen therapy. and sauna and then rapamycin metformin. And so, we never actually had on our.

radar psychedelics. They were always. either an ancient medicine you know, being used in in ritualistic practices. or being pointed at things like. depression and anxiety and in certain. trials. But it was never understood as a. rejuvenation protocol, something that. was for anti-aging. And so, we found a. preclinical evidence in mice on. psilocybin. We thought, that's. interesting. And so, we did the world's. most studied the most quantified. experiment doing psilocybin. Three doses. at 25 mg. of psilocybin. Which is a pretty high.

doses. It's yeah, it's a clinical dose, a very very close to a hero dose. And we. found that we think it's a. a longevity therapy. Let's get to that. data in a minute. But then you decided. to try 5-MeO. this weekend. Yes. Walk me through the experience cuz you. televised the whole thing. It was live. streamed. You looked amazingly calm. going into it and going through the. process. Walk us through your. experience. Yeah, I think those who have done 5-MeO.

would probably relate with me that it. feels like an impossible task to explain. what it's like. So, that caveat said, I'll I'll give it a go. I'm. stunned. Absolutely floored, speechless. You you. basically. experience raw consciousness and raw. intelligence. It's this So, whatever. when I say these words, take these words that I convey to you, take that idea, multiply it by a.

thousand, and then move out infinite. depth, infinite width width and then. dimensions. And like that gives you kind. of like a rough map of like the size and. space that you deal with. And it was. incredibly hard cuz you you get blasted. into this space that is so foreign. You. don't even know what's happening. >> It happens very quickly. Like you you. inhale it. I did 9 mg of intramuscular. and then 7 18 of. vaporized. And it takes you within 10.

seconds. You're just out you're out. And. so, but what happens is you you get in that. space. and then. Visual changes everything? >> Very very little visual. Like you see that on DMT it's a very. visual. You'll meet the you know, like. the elves or whatever else. This is not. a visual experience. But you you get in this world and. you lock in to basically you either. panic because you feel like the gates of. hell are going to open. That the.

the stream of existence is going to just. tear you to shreds. It's going to shard. you. And if you give up. >> Like break your brain. Yeah, it's if you. feel like it's going to like threaten. your sanity. Like is it going to chop. you up into little pieces? And so, in. that moment you have to say, do I try to. wrestle this and I I need to just like. wait it out until it's over or you just. relent and you say yes. And you have to in that moment you have. to say yes so thoroughly. You have to.

release all attachment, all. preconditions, all want, all desire. You. have to release self, ego, control. You. just have to just relent entirely. And then when you do that, it opened up this unimaginable. bliss and euphoria. And like I again, this is like a V1 of trying to explain. this. But if I list out the the most.

dynamic experiences I've had as a human, you know, uh like certain. accomplishments or getting married or. having a child or overcoming a. difficulty or you know, state your list. things. This is without question the most. dynamic experience I've ever experienced. as a human. Does the internal chatter, the internal monologue of the ego turn. off? Does. So, you can't hear yourself. speaking. How do you rationalize what's. going on if you don't have a dialogue.

going on? It's this visceral feeling. Like you're you're hyper aware of what's. happening. It's not like you you block. out in the first like when you take a. very high dose, you don't really know. what's happening the first few minutes, but then you kind of come to and you're. hyper aware of everything. It's not. visual, but it's this um. you're in the depths of existence. [snorts]. Like this. It's just the most majestic.

experience. achievable by a human by by intelligent. life. I just can't imagine anything more. miraculous. You've studied the biology, the. biochemistry. What goes on in the brain. as this. molecule hits your neurons? >> Yeah, I mean like. it. I mean one, it completely dissolves your. default mode network. >> Describe what that is. So, like um. it's this is the engine that constructs.

self and ego. And so, as you ruminate, you know, like you're going through. Thinking through your day. What's next? How am I feeling? What should I be doing. right now? Yeah, it's like constant. conversation. >> I feel bad about myself? Do I feel, you. know, like I am I shy? Am I like do I. feel bad about whatever? Like you're. doing this rumination stuff. Kids don't. have this rumination loop. Their their. default mode network is is quiet. And as. you age, you basically build up this. default mode network into more stiffer. patterns. And so, as you age, your. experience of reality becomes.

increasingly narrow. You have these big. ruts that form. And so, you can just see. people in their patterns like how open a. child is to say like very random things. that as adults you're just very you're. shut in. Like when I did psilocybin, one of the reasons why we did it is. because it does have this effect where. it dampens the default mode network. And. then we could pick this up with Kernel, the brain interface. You can see how the. default mode network weakens. Like so. basically I think of the brain like a. globe with airports scattered about. And. you have certain traffic patterns like.

New York to London. You have a certain. number of flights every day. That's like. a very strong connection. But New York. to you know, some small town in in. Arkansas has a very low traffic map. And. so, when you do something like. psilocybin, it basically takes the. airports, picks them up and then. repositions them in the world. So, they're just all scrambled. So, that the. traffic patterns aren't the same. And. then over time. >> don't physically move, but the activity. shifts around. >> Exactly. >> Right. The neurons are a little bit more. random than they normally would be,

which arguably drives neuroplasticity, causes those neurons to reach out for. new connections. And when new. connections are made, new behaviors, new. ways of thinking emerge. >> Exactly. >> Coming out of these therapeutics. Is. that a fair way to describe it? >> Exactly right. So, you look at my brain. on psilocybin from Kernel, you see my. patterns before like the New York to. London connection. You see my brain. afterwards and it's exactly what you. said. New patterns are emergent. The old. ones have have have quieted down. It's. like a new map of connectivity. And so, we saw that happen and that does.

generate a lot of neuroplasticity. >> And obviously this neuroplasticity. rewiring these connections in the brain. is what allows trauma victims or folks. that have a certain wiring that they. keep repeating in their brain which. causes the trauma and the anxiety in. their lives. to get rewired and then that trauma and. that anxiety feels like it dissolves or. melts away. Is that a fair way to. describe it? >> Yeah. And so, this is this has been. documented in psilocybin. It's kind of. well understood. How did you connect. that psilocybin data to an effort in.

longevity or was this just like a random. idea, let's try it out? >> Yeah, well so we we we saw some mouse. data that it had these effects. It also. showed reduced inflammation. So, we said. like this is interesting cuz most. longevity therapies do something with. inflammation, right? Like inflammation. is the killer. So, if you can lower. inflammation, it's a very good sign. If you can do something that makes the. brain more youthful and takes down those. those big ruts, that's also useful. What. we found in psilocybin though is that it.

had we found a first in human. observation. It had this this metabolic. reset in the brain where my blood. glucose before this was in the top 99.5%. of all the population. Okay. After, it. went to the top 99.9%. Like to move my blood glucose from that. level is very very hard. And but it. basically like not like metformin where. you're doing something on blood glucose. This just had a reset across the body. Also changed my microbiome. So, we saw full-on effects. So, then we. said, "Okay, if that had that.

consequence, 5-MeO may have some similar. characteristics." And so, >> one had done this in 5-MeO before. Exactly. So, there's like there's. potential There's actually some animal. evidence. But, it's the these the similar dynamics. of like can you take the brain. and can you basically like smooth out. the barnacles that accumulate? And 5-MeO-DMT. compared to psilocybin like just. absolutely like blasted clean my default. mode network. It felt like psilocybin. dampens it. It like it softens it, but.

this thing just annihilated my default. mode. >> Turned it off completely. Yeah. It just. It just doesn't run the same way. Like. for an example like uh this morning I. woke up. uh catching myself laughing in a dream. I have not laughed in a dream. I don't I. don't even know when I've ever laughed. in a dream. But, that is I after I woke. up I was like, "That's really weird.". Like I don't remember laughing. I looked. it up and like that is a characteristic. of a thing of a child. >> Right. And so, you are restored to this. childlike state. And I mean.

the past couple days uh I have felt. childlike. You know, yesterday morning I felt that you know, that emergent excitement, the bubbling. of like today is so exciting. I'm going. to do new things. I'm going to have new. experiences. um that you're just excited about all. things. I haven't felt that I don't even. know when you know, for so many years. So, like it really was um profound on. every layer. And I feel like I'm. stumbling through it cuz I don't even. know how to talk about it. During the. day, you're hanging out, you're walking.

around, is your brain having the same. normal chatter that it did before or do. you think that there's a persistent. change in that default mode network? Yeah, definitely change. Like with I was. I was with my partner Kate yesterday and. we um. I did something that. made her upset. And so, like in that situation, you. know, like when when couples are in that. moment, you have like this negotiation. How do I sort this? And. it all just became so clear to me like.

when children have a fight, you have it out and then it's just like. done. Yeah. And you move on. But, then. adults take that and they like package. it up and like then they weaponize it. and be like, "I got something on you.". And I'm like move it. I'm going to move. the chess pieces and like try to. leverage this and and um Or they store. it up like a snake in one of those. things that pops out all the things. later, you know? >> [laughter]. >> It's like. package it all up. Exactly. And so, like we had this and I I just. felt um. absolutely like no need to. escalate or to defend or to like it was.

just easy. >> Easy. And um it was a breakthrough in. our relationship. where I was able to communicate with her. in a way. And so, it's like laughing in. my sleep. It's how I deal with my. partner. When I walk around, I just feel. so much I. uh I feel so much more funny. You know, like my ability to make quips that are. just immediate. Uh you know, like. So, yeah. I just feel renewed as a. person in a way that I just really. didn't imagine. Have you tried. hallucinogenics before you started your.

longevity path a couple of years ago? >> Yeah. And did you do that recreationally or. therapeutically? It was mostly. therapeutic in that I I'd sold my. company Nootrobox. I got a divorce. I. left the Mormon church. And I was trying. to remap like what is life, who am I, what do I do? So, I was in that. rebuilding stage where I just dabbled of. like you know, I did I did ketamine at. Kernel. So, one one of our first studies. at Kernel is we said ketamine was a. up-and-coming therapy for depression. And we posed the question, "What happens.

when you do ketamine?" And so, we did. the world's most extensive measurement. of ketamine with Kernel before, during, and after. And so, that was interesting. like and it had some kind of you know, transient effect, but that's like a. a like a little league relative to. 5-MeO. And so, as you've gone through. this, maybe share a little bit of the. MRI data that you're gathering and the. other data mapping neurological effects. Yeah. And tell us a little bit about. what you've learned. So far, nothing. Uh. I have my subjective experience to.

share, but we we have a structural brain. MRI. We have a functional brain MRI. We. did Kernel, which is like an optical. interface. And then I did real-time EEG. capture. And we should just talk about I. think it's important structural. You can. see the the physical brain. Functional, you can see the activity in. the brain. So, neurons firing and. neurons that are not firing, Yes. Yeah. And then electrical actions that are. measured by a electrical device. >> Yes. So, we basically like wanted cuz. the brain is very So, we've had a lot of.

success rejuvenating my heart and my. lungs and muscle and body fat. But, rejuvenating the brain is very hard. >> Right. And so, we This is why this is so. such a promising therapy. So, we wanted. to look at the brain through every. modality possible. We wanted to look at. blood flow, structural, molecular, you. know, the wave pattern form. So, it's a. it's a very high fidelity. quantification. And so, we'll see what. the data comes out. Um I'm very excited. Yeah. >> this on psilocybin as well, right? You. mapped the brain over time. What did you.

learn there? Dramatic. uh restoration of youthful brain. patterns. Yeah, right. Yeah. And. what comes after 5-MeO? >> [laughter]. >> You know, I I mean, how far do you take. this? >> Yeah. Honestly, um. I am so encouraged. by psychedelics. I you know, like in in in the community where I hang. out, psychedelics have always been. understood as you know, it's like a. retreat or it's like a a ritual you go.

to like. do various explorations. But, never in. the world of longevity. It's never been. understood as that thing. And now after. seeing the data, now I um. And of course, you have to be very. careful when talking about psychedelics. because they're extremely powerful. It's. not like go out and do them everybody, right? It's like it needs to be done. properly with a licensed professional. It needs to be done carefully. The. person needs to be in the right state. Like it is not to be taken lightly. But, I am uh more interested than ever in.

psychedelic compounds. I mean, they're. just uniquely powerful. There is some. arguments to be made that psychedelics. can induce permanent psychoses, >> Yeah. cause functional changes and drive some. people that might be predisposed into. schizophrenic states. >> That's right. How did you get over those. risks? Because for a lot of people, that. would turn them off to trying. psychedelics. >> Yes. And it's not a non-zero percentage. of people that suffer these. consequences. >> Yeah. I agree. And and also people who.

have really bad trips that leave them. scarred. So, it's it really is. And I. think in in part of it is um. what could be contributing to this is. uh people who for example who have tried. uh magic mushrooms, you know, it's in a social situation. Someone's got a bag. You pull out the mushrooms. It's like, "Yeah, like weighs blank." And they pop. it in. But, they have no idea what kind. of mushroom strain they're eating. They. don't know what the dose of psilocybin. is. Uh so, it's like unquantified, unsupervised, wrong set and setting. And. so, much of it I think you can The the.

risk persists, but I don't think we. we've approached psychedelics with the. appropriate rigor that we should to make. it safe. And so, it's not to say that we. can solve for the safety issues for all. people. Some people just may not be the. appropriate candidate for it. But, I. think if we do create a safety structure. around it, they could deliver the. benefits people want uh without you. know, with less of the risk. But, definitely I agree with you like it's. again it it deserves all the caution in. the world. You can get like neurogenic, neuroplasticity,

trauma resolution. I mean, what is the. way that this is going to be allowed to. become call it a medical therapeutic. that can be more broadly trialed and. then eventually figure out how to bring. it to people without it being carrying. all the risks and burdens that it does. today? >> I mean, if I just subjectively compare. my experience with 5-MeO to. having a better diet and exercising. every day and uh sleeping well and doing. the sauna and doing hyperbaric oxygen. therapy,

this was more efficacious than all of. them. in terms of the reset of me as a human. It it just is incomparable. And I guess. I'm I'm really left pondering. I mean, like for this molecule to have such a. gigantic impact. Now, like how long will. it last? What's the decay curve like? You know, will I find I I become the. former Brian within 30 days, 60 days? Do. I have to repeat the cycle? And I don't. know. But, it really is you know, you. When you sleep well, you feel great. You. exercise, great. But, like nothing like.

what 5-MeO did in terms of of like the. reset of me as a human. So, let's just. talk about the consequences outside of. the physiological, which is life. Yeah. There lots of. stories and friends that I have that and. people that I know. that have tried a heavy psychedelic like. an ayahuasca or something. They were the CEO of a company and then. they quit their company and they go off. to the jungle, leave their family, divorce their their partner, um make such dramatic life changes.

because their perspective has been. shifted so much. that they reevaluate what matters in. life to such a degree that they give up. a lot of the things that mattered. before. >> Yeah. In the wake of that, there are. people that. feel they're a victim of that behavioral. shift. The investors in the company, the. employees, the family members, et. cetera. >> Yeah. Can you just talk a little bit. about those broad risks? Because we've. seen it and I'm and I don't know if. you've seen the same. But, friends that.

have kind of like said, "I have this new. perspective. I'm giving up my life.". I've seen the same thing. And I um. one investor told me that he even put it. in the deal docs. that you know, if we invest, you're not. going to do these psychedelics. Cuz they. they wanted to minimize the the risk. profile. It's a thing. In your deal in. an investment in you? No, I just spoke. cuz because I've been doing this. Uh uh. People bring this up as a topic of. conversation. Right. And so they say. like, I see you're doing this for. longevity, but you know, like I've seen. so many examples where.

people put money in, and you lose the. founder. Like they're off. And. everyone's high and dry. And so they. were telling me that they put into deal. docs that they can't do this for the. duration of the company. And so it is a. thing. And you know, I. I have nothing to say about it other. than I know it happens. Um, also I would say that most people in. the tech world that I'm familiar with, again, they've done this in retreat. centers or in social environments. It's.

not quantified. It's not set and. setting. It's So it's a different thing. But I will say like, you know, I I guess me as a person, what I'm. trying to focus on, I came back. even more motivated to do what I'm doing. now. Uh, I don't have a desire to go off. in the woods, you know, and like and. live that kind of life. It It It. emboldened me to work on these things, but no question about it, you you do. have a dramatic shift in perspective. And it's it's very hard to get away from. >> a very important philosophical question.

Who am I? Yes. If I'm defined by. my experiences, it roughly equates to my neurons are. wired in a way that's a consequence of. my experiences. And if I go in and take a drug and in a. few hours rewire all my neurons, am I the same person? What makes Brian. Brian? You can maybe recall some. memories of Brian. prior to taking. the psychedelic, but Brian as a person.

has been rewired. Are you a different. person now? And what does that say about. Are we ever a persistent person? >> Yeah. Right? Yeah. Your question is spot. on. Probably the most dramatic. reconstruction. of your 60 plus trillion cells. than anything you can do in life. Yeah, like maybe like a near-death. experience, you know, would would maybe. uh be close, but it's a dramatic. re-wiring of you as a as a human. Your. values can change, too. That's right. And you could judge the values pre and.

post, right? You could judge values. ascribed to you by a religion. or perhaps values ascribed to you by. responsibility. to family members, children, spouses, partners, what have you. You abandon them after you go through. this change. So your values have. changed. Is it right or wrong? >> That's right. I think it's another. important question that comes out of all. this. >> And like you know, like you now think. about that That's within the frame where. the world. changes at a certain speed. Now you take. the world where it's changing faster. So we now know that it's hard to predict.

what's going to happen. 2 weeks from now or a month, right? Like. things are changing very quickly. And so. now you come up with this practical. question, can humans change fast enough. in the world where AI is the dominant. engine of innovation? And so in that case, like you may want. psychedelics as your ally to say, as a. human I'm struggling to like move with. the change. Yeah. And so there there's. potentially a where it it flips from a. liability to an asset where like now I.

do want that restructure changing, even. though you have some tail risk of like. maybe my priorities will shift. >> you have profound what I would call. psycho-flexibility. And I think most people don't. They have. either a disinterest in changing who. they are overnight. or they're fearful of the the. ramifications or the experience. And. that they wouldn't go through it. How. far would you take it? Would you wire. yourself up to a neuralink or neural. enhancement device that would give you. the ability to have information on.

demand and maybe change your personality. and capacity as a human through an. implant? Would you consider doing. something like that? >> Yes. You would. Would you consider a. transgenic system where you basically. take a plasmid, which would then express. a set of proteins in your body and. change uh gene expression profiles and. cells in your body and basically could. rewire you as a different person? Yes. Yes. Is there a limit to what you would. try? >> No. Interesting. Where do you think that. comes from? I think I I find it to be. the most exciting. configuration of life.

Uh, the ability to play on the frontier. Uh, novelty and expedition and. challenge. That's really my Did you always have it. or are you responding to childhood. suppression of those I mean it's it's. probably it's probably an. overcompensation of of trauma response, like most things are. And so, you know, as a child I lived in a very structured. religious environment where things were. cemented. Like here's the story, here's. the plan, here's what you do and what. you don't do. Yeah. And so yeah, maybe.

it's probably just I'm now a flipped in. the opposite. Yeah. And so I mean that's. like probably true that I really. I don't trust my internal generation of. reality. You know, I know I'm always. making things up. I've got 188 chronic. biases, like all humans do. So I'm just. I'm generally suspicious of all things. all time, and I don't take myself very. seriously. So I just find the the. frontier play space to be like Right. now, I mean, you know, what you're doing. in building companies, like you just. open up a a toolkit and say like, what. can I build? And how do I modify? And so.

I agree with you. I do have a a strong. proclivity towards open display. Do you find that you've been challenged. in maintaining, I would call it external. responsibility as you explore and. enhance yourself so much? Do you give up. the responsibility to others around you. who maybe are dependent on you or or in. need of you? Yeah. I have three kids. And so um. I do think about them a lot. And I being. a father is a really important thing to. me, and it's an important part of my. identity. And so that has not changed.

So I've never uh vacillated on that or. changed my disposition towards that. Uh. for those around me, I guess fortunately I have a a social. group that just says, go and play. There's There's really no one in my life. that tries to claw me back. There's no. Velcro. Yeah. It's just all encouraging. And so that I guess I feel very. fortunate that everyone around me and. they're willing to take the risks. I. mean, this is. you know, when I sat down for 5-MeO, I. mean my my partner Kate, like she's got. a ton of risk. Like what if it goes.

poorly? What if I change my perspective? What if something bad happens? So. Well, one could make an argument that. taking that degree of risk where. something could have gone wrong, the people around you are enabling. versus Yeah. being supportive, right? That's right. That's right. >> yeah, that's That's a consequence, but. let's shift topics to other. uh. modalities for longevity. Yeah. What. else is on the horizon? So you've had. this profound set of experiences with. psychedelics. You've documented in a.

very extraordinary and exquisite fashion. all of the other things that you've been. doing with interventions. Are there. other things that are on the horizon. that you're either excited about or that. you're considering yourself? Yeah, I. mean, two of the ones that we've spoken. about, cell therapy and gene therapy. >> Yeah. Yeah. They. they're all in the pipeline. Uh so. they're not ready yet. We've We've. knocked out all the stuff you can do. today. Like we've gone through it all, done it all. Um the next gen therapies. are just not there yet. So we're looking. at mitochondrial rejuvenation. I think. that's incredible. I think mitochondrial. augmentation therapy. And there was a.

paper I saw where in order to get the. mitochondria in the cell, they coated. the mitochondria in effectively a red. blood cell envelope, >> Yep. which made it more transportable. into cells and less uh attacked by the. immune system. >> Which is incredible. And I I'm a big big. big believer in this this this course of. therapy. I think it's going to be a. whole therapeutic modality that no one. has even recognized. >> We have our first uh mitochondrial. therapy lined up. So How are you going. to do it? You're You're like 99.9%. You. need someone who's like 48.7%.

>> [laughter]. >> to try the mitochondrial. particularly like, you know, I think. they tried it in Parkinson's patients, Alzheimer's patients. That's where you. can really see profound shifts in in. certain metrics. For you, it's like 99.9. to what? Like. >> Yeah, yeah. You know, I had the. mitochondria, you know, of a. 48-year-old. Right? So like, what what. if I What if I could. >> Yes. You could go to your sibling's. child because the the mitochondria is. passed maternally cuz it's in the it's. in the egg cell. So it's the mother's. mitochondria.

>> Right. If you have a a sister who has a kid, they're going to have very young. mitochondria. You can take a little. blood sample and then grow their. mitochondria extensively and use that as. a biological match to you. >> This is a perfect extension. I've had a. blood boy as a son. Yeah. So now I'm. just going to go to the extended family. and be like, guys, it's a it's a family project. Yeah, family project. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Well, that one's super interesting. And. then. >> have one that we're doing. I've I'm now building. >> Sorry, are you going to do your own. mitochondrial transplantation? You're.

going to build a bioreactor or are you. using working with a one of the third. parties that Yeah, third company, yeah. So I'll I'll get I'll do a blood draw in. the next week or two. They'll spin up. And then we'll do it. Yeah, I'll do it. Yeah. So you're going to get your. mitochondria, which have some. you know, the the problem with. mitochondria, as you know, is. mitochondrial DNA degradation over time, right? It accelerates for certain. people, but that way if you go back to a. young person, you have young. mitochondria. But then you're going to multiply yours. out. Yes. And probably select a little. bit or for healthier ones. Right. Okay. And then put it back in. It's very I. mean, it's exploratory.

We don't know. We're one of the first. They're They're in phase two now. Do you. sprint? Yeah, I do. So you could. probably score if you did it. intramuscular like mitochondrial. therapy, you could sprint see your. score. That's a great idea. Yeah, thank. you. Uh that would be a great way to measure. it from a rather than just a basic. biomarker perspective. Be really. interesting to see. Yeah. Sprinting is. one of the most underappreciated. longevity therapies. Yeah, I I don't do. it. Oh, man. >> I've got the. the age of a 74-year-old. uh roughly.

>> [laughter]. >> I am uh I'm definitely not keeping track. with you. Would you consider or have you. looked at any plasmids where you take a. gene. as DNA, put it in your body, and then. that gene makes a protein in your body. that that does something? Like the one. we were looking at in the FoxO3. expression. Yeah, exactly. So the. mesenchymal stem cells it packaged up. with the Foxo 3 delivery. Um yeah, that showed that over 50% of. tissues getting that rejuvenation. >> It's unbelievable. >> Unbelievable. It's like the. It's the best demonstration in the. entire world. >> for tissue regeneration. Like as a. particular application set, tissue.

regeneration using that sort of system. seems like a no-brainer. Like, yeah. >> It's safe, right? It's like it's Yeah, so I. reached out to that Chinese professor. I'm really interested in seeing it. replicating. I would love. >> out to the Chinese professor? >> Yeah. That's awesome. [laughter]. >> Yeah. We sent that paper Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's awesome. So, I Yeah. >> Awesome. Yeah. Good. Uh so, we I'd love. to do that. Um I'd love to actually. build it ourselves. Yeah, but that's. like a 2-year project. So, um Hey, I can. help. Make it faster.

>> That's true. Yeah. Actually, that's. true. AI as a project manager for these. sorts of programs is You know, that's. true. We We spoke about this 6 months. ago. Yeah. >> they're so different. So different now, 6 months later, in terms of standing it. up. Um so, that one's cool. So, I think. that's a good good option. Then also, I'm doing uh Bryan Johnson organoids. So, uh we took my iPS iPSCs. We now have. them. >> Induced pluripotent stem cells. So, you. took your cells, turned them into stem. cells. Yep. Yeah. So, now we're doing in. dish. So, now we have like a Bryan. Johnson heart, liver, lungs. And now. we're going to try molecules on me and.

in dish. >> have a plot So, so let me just walk the. audience through this. So, you take. cells off of your skin or something. blood, and then you put these Yamanaka. factor proteins on those cells, causes. those cells to become stem cells, which. means they can then turn into any other. cell. And then you put other proteins on. them to turn them into a heart cell or a. eye cell or or what have you. And now. you've got a store of these. tissue-specific Bryan Johnson cells. >> Yes. that you then use for Like, you can. say, "Okay, what if you give Bryan. Johnson. blank you know, drug?

What is What happens? Is it good? Is it. bad? What are the side effects? What are. the complications? >> dish, you put the drug in there. See. what happens. >> Yeah. Okay. >> just like you can simulate all these. experiments. So, now you you get the. advantage of time, of acceleration, of. like what to take, why, what dose. That's awesome. Uh what combinatorial. things to consider. Yeah. >> we we have the organoids stood up. We. haven't done our first test yet. Yeah. So, that's interesting because now I. have to do this old-school methodology, like put it in my body, wait to see what. happens. Is it good? Is it bad? What you. know, how does it affect everything. else? >> Yeah, totally. That's a good one. But.

let me I don't know, we'll see. It's. It's cool in concept. I mean, TBD if it. actually works. So, we'll see. Have you tracked any of the alternative. Yamanaka factors, their factor discovery. work that's going on? And do you think. there's anything worth testing at this. stage? Yeah, I'm a an investor in. NewLimit. So, I've talked to them about. the where they're at and Blake and. Bryan's company. They've done I mean, they've made remarkable progress. They. they figured out how to computationally. solve the discovery process. Yeah. And. so, I they um they're much faster than. they initially thought. And so, that's.

very encouraging. >> the big challenge with the Yamanaka. factors is always dosing. If you. overdose a cell, a one cell, that cell. can become a cancer cell and take off as. a tumor. >> Yeah. So, the sensitivity that you need. to have to get the right number of the. factors, which is a protein, into the. cell needs to be Yeah. perfectly tuned. Yeah. So, I have a theory that this will. end up being solved by cellular switches. Hmm. that will end up putting machinery. into the cells that can turn on or off. the protein synthesis at the right.

dosing based on the measurement of gene. expression in the cell. That's my theory. on where this will end up. >> of sense. Any other control mechanism. will be inadequate. >> That's right. >> The feedback loop just All you need is. one error and you're you're you're in. trouble. Yeah. But it is it is the most. profound, I think, technology that. humanity's dealing with today besides. AI. We're not quite there with fusion, which I would argue is probably a. distant third, but it is very powerful. if possible. >> again, in the future, like I think we'll. look back and we'll see GLP-1s as the. first big drop. Yeah. >> I'm like, "What? I can just inject. myself and like it solves hunger and you.

know, and then the second will probably. be something like NewLimit or one of. these Foxo one of these plasma-based. Foxo 3 therapies where it will show real. life like dramatic changes. And then. humanity will shift as like. uh longevity being a vision of sci-fi, you know, rich people pursuit to like. something that is truly. Yeah, I mean, go back to like the. conversation on on the temptation. towards socialism. Right? Like, if if. you can feel robust in your ability to.

pursue life and be healthy and vibrant. and uh in control, I think these things. could have dramatic changes in society, not just in health, but like Well, any. form of abundance, whether it's. abundance in food, in energy, in. housing, in mobility, in life. the more abundant people get, the. happier they are. And the more you're. improving abundance in the world, the. the better we are going to live as a. group of people together on planet. Earth. >> Exactly. The happier we will all be with. each other. But I think like honestly, like a lot of the the the.

>> External conflict only comes from. internal unhappiness. 100%. And so, if. you look at the general malaise of like. American society, like no wonder. uh things are shitty, right? Like, you've got meta 84% of people have. metabolic disorder. Over 40% of people. are obese. Like, we're just in really. poor health. Nobody's sleeping. Everyone's on their phone. Like, mental. health issues. Like, no wonder. you have the proclivity towards these. kinds of outcomes. Like, so if you could. get the health in check, it changes the. psychological disposition of you, your. community, your country. Like, you have. much more of a can-do attitude. Like, I.

can take on the world and I can do hard. things. But when you're not feeling. well, like it's just everything is just. so much harder. >> Yeah, 100%. And so, in light of all of. these new therapeutic modalities and. these new opportunities that seem to be. biologically proven and have these. profound effects, why continue to tinker with. psychedelics? Like, are they as profound. or are they a complement or like how do. you think about fitting all of this. portfolio of things that you're looking. at together? >> Yeah. I mean, I guess the question is I. forget on the Foxo 3 study. I don't know. if they saw brain rejuvenation.

>> I did not see that. And I don't I don't. remember. I mean, it is a very. complicated organ. Yeah, exactly. And. it's insane. Like, you know, you can grow muscle tissue. back and you can grow skin tissue back. and it's kind of like, "Okay, I grew a. little like Like, if you grow the the. the neurons back maybe in the wrong way. like we don't know Yeah. because it's. never been done before. >> Yeah. So, understanding the consequence. of neuro regeneration is like. So, I wonder like if the role it might. play. Like, you know, maybe.

psilocybin and 5-MeO won't be. um. you know, meaningful for. like basic functions of the body. But. maybe it's the. the outperformer. in youthfulness of your of your. disposition towards reality. Like, one. thing I'm I'm apprehensive about is you. know, I'm 48. And so, as you start climbing to your 50s, 60s, you do. really narrow. Like, your ambition goes. from I can do anything to start, you.

know, narrowing down further and. further. And. I worry about using losing a youthful. disposition of a can-do attitude, of. anything is possible. Totally. And maybe. that's the role of psychedelics is you. just get a wash of like the snapback of. like, I can and I can bounce. That's. definitely been the case for me. So, I. think they do probably play a really. important role of like they're probably. a set of things that for certain people. that will um. It It's basically like I mean, I felt.

like it was like 30, 40 years of. psychological rejuvenation. Like, you. know, it's like to transform me back to. a childlike state, that is insane. I. don't get that from the sauna or from. eating well or from sleeping well. Like, I'm still. >> Right. So, it's They're just unique. Yeah, amazing. Well, listen, I'm going. to go drink alcohol and eat carbs and. stay out late. I don't know, what are. you going to do? I'm going to go to bed on time and. do my wind-down routine. Yeah, you do. you. But but you do you as well. Enjoy.

[laughter] it. I appreciate it. This has been great. Bryan Johnson, thank you. >> Yeah, that was awesome. That was great. I'm going all in. I'm going all [music]. in.