640K views · Feb 13, 2018 · 18:33 · 8 HN recommenders · 20 mentions · discussed 2018–2026
The Thought Emporium's host describes making and taking a DIY gene therapy to treat his own lactose intolerance. It uses an AAV virus to deliver DNA coding for the lactose-digesting enzyme, made with biohacker Gabriel Licina's help.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN keeps citing it as the standard example of accessible DIY gene engineering and self-experimentation, in threads on gene therapy, CRISPR and biohacking.
“The rest of the channel is pure biohacking gold.”HN comment, 2021
“The rest of the channel is pure biohacking gold.”
Channel full of biohacking, with a self-cured lactose intolerance story
You mean like the guy who in 2018 claimed to have cured himself of lactose intolerance for a while by ingesting a gene-modifying Adenolike virus? [1] No fancy lipid-bubble-riding mRNA necessary. The rest of the channel is pure biohacking gold. The yeast spider silk video is much recommended. [1] this video
“Some outstanding videos IMHO”
Outstanding video from a near-hard-science channel
Interesting is understatement, it's a channel which is one of the closer ones to hard science on the hard science - pop science spectrum and still having more than a million subscribers. Some outstanding videos IMHO: The channel owner applies himself a gene therapy to fix his lactose intolerance. this video How exactly the Covid Tests work: link Growing Human Neurons Connected to a Computer link Especially the Covid test video was eye opening against the conspiracy theorist propaganda during the pandemic because knowing how tests actually work on practical level makes you see through the claims effort free.
“Check out this guys video on his own gene therapy for lactose intolerance”
Self-experiment with gene therapy for lactose intolerance
Yep, they usually use a pseudo virus that doesn't replicate, called an adeno associated virus. Check out this guys video on his own gene therapy for lactose intolerance : this video
“in case you want to hear more about it.”
Describes the whole process of the self-treatment
I'm pretty sure this is the video that describes the whole process, in case you want to hear more about it. (Haven't watched it myself but it's been on my to-watch list for while) Comes from a YouTube channel called Though Emporium: this video
“Thought Emporium has a decent video where he modifies an Adenovirus to inject the lactase gene”
Modifying an adenovirus to deliver the lactase gene
Thought Emporium has a decent video where he modifies an Adenovirus to inject the lactase gene into the cells of his intestinal tract. this video
“Check out this video by The Thought Emporium”
Perspective on how far DIY biology has come
Check out this video by The Thought Emporium to see how far we’ve come in these matters: this video This should hopefully provide you with some useful perspective.
“About how easy it is to make recombinant insulin I recommend this channel”
Channel showing how easy recombinant insulin is to make
If I understand correctly the problem is that if you go to one of their labs they'll cook you a batch in no time (we know the genes, you can order a plasmid that has all the bells and whistles needed to get it made in yeast), but it'd be illegal for many reasons. (They can't sell it without FDA approval for one, they'd need an approved factory for that, and they are infringing on patents.) They obviously can't advertise this, but in videos they almost literally spell this out. So they do this strange outreach instead, with no clear steps in sight. Plus as others mentioned it's easy to buy insulin. ($25 at Walmart.) About how easy it is to make recombinant insulin I recommend this channel: this video
“What got me started was probably this from”
Video that got the commenter into molecular biology
What got me started was probably this from "The Thought Emporium", and other videos on his channel: this video (obvious don't try this at home disclaimer). What I'm reading right now is "Molecular Biology of the Cell" — it's a dense textbook and I'm taking my time, so only about two chapters in, but I love how it focuses on a lot of fundamental principles and occasionally points out astonishing facts. There's also this series which might be a nice, casual primer: link James Somers also lists some other books in his post I linked to above, might be worth checking out.
“that was pretty eye opening”
Example showing how accessible gene engineering is
Eh. With gene drives we already have the technology to selectively target or not target particular ethnic groups. Bio weapons are amongst the top threats we pose to ourselves as a species. There’s a youtube series by a guy who made a virus to cure himself of lactose intolerance via gene therapy, that was pretty eye opening. To go from what he did to making a targeted bioweapon is not that much of a leap. this video
“this guy used gene therapy to cure himself of lactose intolerance quite a while ago.”
Self-administered gene therapy for lactose intolerance
Reminds me: this guy used gene therapy to cure himself of lactose intolerance quite a while ago. Not sure how common it actually is among biohackers. this video
“Sounds like ThoughtEmporium”
Recalls the Thought Emporium lactose video
Sounds like ThoughtEmporium, but I don't remember him using a phage to do this. Might have to rewatch this video soon. this video
“created a fairly durable treatment for his own lactose intolerance”
Independent researcher treated his own lactose intolerance
The capability of independent ‘biohacking’ researchers is increasing at an astronomical rate. Justin from The Thought Emporium created a fairly durable treatment for his own lactose intolerance this video
“There's that guy who genetically engineered himself to produce lactose[1] and it worked”
Precedent for engineering oneself to digest lactose
The lorem ipsum on the "journal" page does not inspire confidence. But I definitely believe that the idea is feasible. There's that guy who genetically engineered himself to produce lactose[1] and it worked, and this seems like a less risky way to do it. I'd love for a real product along these lines to come out. Would it even be legal to sell it though? [1] this video
“it did wear off after several months”
Treatment wore off after several months
The video: this video - and it did wear off after several months, he discusses it in follow up videos. Speaking for myself, taking a lactose CRISPR treatment twice a year sounds pretty nice compared to avoiding dairy and/or taking lactase with many meals.
“Here's a youtuber designing a custom virus to cure his lactose intolerance”
Youtuber designed a custom virus to cure lactose intolerance
It takes less than you think, you can order sequences online Here's a youtuber designing a custom virus to cure his lactose intolerance this video
“This guy cured his own lactose intolerance”
YouTuber engineered himself to cure lactose intolerance
> I agree with that evaluation, but I also think mavericks should be allowed to try curing their own colorblindness (assuming they had informed consent and paid for the therapy themselves). I mean, what's stopping you? This guy cured his own lactose intolerance: this video But I'm guessing — in part because you say "paid for the therapy" — that you don't really mean "should be allowed to cure their own colorblindness"; but rather "should be allowed to buy a colorblindness treatment from a vendor of such" or maybe "should be allowed to request a prescription of a colorblindness treatment from a doctor who acquires it from a vendor of such." And you're already also allowed to do that — in theory. The FDA doesn't care about people buying medical treatments. It cares about companies selling them. Because companies are profit-focused, and the quickest way to money in medicine is to lie. For you to be able to get what you want, there'd have to be an intermediate category that stops just shy of the current "FDA-approved medical therapy" category. For a treatment to qualify for this category, it would still have to pass both safety and efficacy studies. The only thing that would be different, is that the FDA wouldn't weigh the safety vs. the efficacy of the treatment at the end; but instead just put an absolute minimum threshold on both safety and efficacy, and leave the prescriber to determine whether the safety risk outweighs the efficacy. But think about that word "prescriber." This
“took a homemade treatment that alerted his GI system DNA to produce lactase so he could eat pizza again”
Homemade gene treatment to digest lactose
I know of at least one YouTuber who took a homemade treatment that alerted his GI system DNA to produce lactase so he could eat pizza again: this video
“Risky, but it's his body!”
Self-experimentation with genetic engineering and the backlash it drew
The paternalistic state does not allow you autonomy over your own body. e.g the amount of backlash thought emporium got when he genetically engineered himself to remove lactose intolerance: this video Risky, but it's his body!
“There was a guy on YouTube who genetically engineered himself to gain lactose tolerance.”
Oral gene therapy gave lactose tolerance for about a year and a half
There was a guy on YouTube who genetically engineered himself to gain lactose tolerance. ( this video ) It lasted for around a year and a half ( link ) before the effect mostly wore off. He took it orally, so it only affected his intestinal lining, and I presume it didn't effect enough stem cells to get a permanent effect, but it would still be usable as something taken annually, which is still far less often than any medication.
“Edit enough cells to impact health outcomes for a meaningful period of time?”
Example that partial cell editing can have real health effects
Edit every cell? No. Edit enough cells to impact health outcomes for a meaningful period of time? [Yes]( this video )
