--- title: "Rogue Bitcoin-Funded Biohacker Wants to Gene-Hack Designer Babies" description: "A do-it-yourself biohacker named Bryan Bishop says that he's working on technology to gene-hack designer babies. He says he has a customer lined up." date: "2019-02-03" modified: "2019-02-03" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/rogue-biohacker-gene-hack-designer-babies" categories: - "Bitcoin" - "Blockchain" - "Cryptocurrency" - "Future Society" - "Health & Medicine" - "Prosthetics and Devices" tags: - "CRISPR" - "designer babies" - "gene-editing" --- # Rogue Bitcoin-Funded Biohacker Wants to Gene-Hack Designer Babies ![A do-it-yourself biohacker named Bryan Bishop says that he's working on technology to gene-hack designer babies. He says he has a customer lined up.]() *\Image: Pexels/Jon Christian\* ## Designer Babies A do-it-yourself biohacker named Bryan Bishop says that he's working on technology that will gene-hack babies to make them "grow muscle without weightlifting" and live more than a hundred years. He even says that he has a potential customer lined up who wants to hire him to create a designer baby. "We haven’t started on humans yet, but we do believe this is ethical," he told the *MIT Technology Review* in a [fascinating new profile]() of his rogue genetic work. "People are on a witch hunt right now to find wrongdoing. I am afraid they are not going to find any." ## Bitcoin Bro The prospect of gene-editing humans using CRISPR or similar technology was largely theoretical until late 2018, when Chinese scientist He Jiankui [claimed to have edited]() the DNA of two babies. The experiment, which prompted an international outcry, has lent a troubling immediacy to rogue actors like Bishop, who are operating outside the bounds of the academic research system. "I think this is a significantly flawed and deeply worrying approach to genetically modifying humans," Francis Crick Institute postdoctoral fellow Güneş Taylor told *MIT Tech*. "It is also extremely worrying that they claim to have their first participant." ## DIY Biohacker Though Bishop — who's reportedly a skilled programmer and an early Bitcoin investor, meaning he has resources to pour into the venture — has already circulated a pitch deck for his designer baby company and is already funding animal research, he insists he won't try to gene-edit a human baby until the technique is safe. "I describe him as the closest thing to an AI in human form," Andrew Hessel, the CEO of gene-therapy startup Humane Genomics, told *MIT Tech* of Bishop. "He’s a ghost in the machine." **READ MORE:** [The DIY designer baby project funded with Bitcoin]() \[*MIT Technology Review*\] ***More on gene-hacking:*** [Chinese Scientists Claim to Have Gene-Edited Human Babies For the First Time]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()