---
title: "Sick Man Begs Doctors: Please CRISPR Me"
description: "Malakkar Vohryzek is trying to find scientists willing to use CRISPR to gene-hack away his extreme sensitivity to sunlight in hopes of avoiding skin cancer."
date: "2019-09-25"
modified: "2019-09-25"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/man-doctors-crispr"
categories:
  - "Gene Editing"
  - "Genetics"
  - "Health & Medicine"
tags:
  - "biohacking"
  - "CRISPR"
  - "gene hacking"
---

# Sick Man Begs Doctors: Please CRISPR Me

![Malakkar Vohryzek is trying to find scientists willing to use CRISPR to gene-hack away his extreme sensitivity to sunlight in hopes of avoiding skin cancer.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/man-doctors-crispr.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Images via Pixabay/Victor Tangermann\</em\>*

43-year-old IT consultant Malakkar Vohryzek has a genetic condition with no name and no cure: extremely sensitive to sunlight, he can hardly go outside without new moles popping up on his skin.

That's why [he told *STAT News*](<https://www.statnews.com/2019/09/25/plea-to-scientists-crispr-me/>) he wants to use CRISPR gene-hacking technology to find a solution. He's been contacting doctors, researchers, and companies that supply them with biomedical supplies to offer himself as a guinea pig — all a desperate attempt to biohack himself away from deadly skin cancer.

"I just want to live," Vohryzek told *STAT*.

American scientists have already started to [use CRISPR on humans](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/us-human-crispr-cancer-patients>) in experimental trials, and of course there are those [Chinese CRISPR babies](<https://futurism.com/neoscope/crispr-baby-scientist-designer-clinic>) that had their genomes altered before they were born.

But what Vohryzek wants — to insert an entirely new gene into his DNA — is likely beyond the scope of current gene-hacking technology, according to *STAT*. As a result, the few replies he's received were largely dismissive, describing his requests as something squarely within the realm of science fiction. But that hasn't deterred Vohryzek.

"CRISPR science has the potential to save billions of lives, and end misery for billions more," he told *STAT*. "I have hundreds of reasons to willingly contribute my own body for furthering its research, and no reason at all not to."

"If I die of melanoma, it won't help anyone," he said. "If I die because of an experimental treatment, it will at least help science."

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)