Bryan Johnson's biohacks put to the test

Bryan Johnson reportedly spends more than two million dollars a year on his body. Rapamycin, CoQ10, antioxidants, full-body scans, fasting protocols: his Blueprint programme is a living laboratory. On Interventions & Treatments we systematically track what works and what doesn't. Here is where things stand for his most talked-about biohacks.

Rapamycin: the boldest experiment

Rapamycin is Johnson's most controversial choice. In mice, the drug demonstrably extends lifespan; in humans, early signals are mildly positive for the immune system and the skin. But human data are scarce and the side effects are real: more infections and elevated blood lipid levels are documented risks, even at lower doses. A conventional doctor won't prescribe it as an anti-ageing drug because the clinical foundation for doing so simply isn't there. What we know about rapamycin in humans is still not enough to justify its use outside of clinical research.

CoQ10 and antioxidants: formulation matters more than brand

Johnson takes ubiquinol, the pricier form of CoQ10. Small studies show ubiquinol is absorbed two to three times more effectively than standard CoQ10, but a quality ubiquinone softgel reaches the same blood levels in direct comparisons. No large trials have shown that ubiquinol actually outperforms the alternatives in treating any real condition. What formulation does to absorption turns out to matter more than whether you're buying the most expensive version on the shelf.

His broad antioxidant stack, including vitamin E, is a different story. Vitamin E has been clearly shown not to protect the heart, studied across nearly a million participants. For skin and fertility, the signals are weak and unconfirmed. Taking vitamin E currently has no clear evidence base outside a specific, medically established reason. Curcumin shows some promise for particular complaints, but it doesn't qualify as a general anti-ageing agent either.

Fasting and cellular rejuvenation: promising, but not yet proven in humans

Johnson practises time-restricted eating and points to cellular rejuvenation as one of his motivations. In animal research, the effects are impressive: more stem cells, repair of nerve tissue, fewer worn-out cells. In humans, the evidence is limited to small pilot studies using biomarkers. Whether fasting actually rejuvenates cells in people has not yet been demonstrated in large, well-designed trials. What fasting does to your cells remains, for now, a compelling hypothesis.

The full-body scan: more anxiety than answers

Johnson gets comprehensive scans frequently. Preventive full-body MRI in healthy people regularly turns up abnormalities that most likely have no clinical significance, yet they generate anxiety and trigger follow-up testing. No demonstrated benefit has been shown in the form of lower mortality or better health outcomes. What a full-body MRI actually delivers for healthy individuals is not supported by the current evidence.

Herbs and supplements: St John's wort as a cautionary tale

Anyone following an extensive supplement protocol like Johnson's will inevitably run into interactions. St John's wort, popular among biohackers as a mood booster, lowers blood levels of dozens of medications by causing the liver to break them down faster. The consequences can be serious, ranging from transplant rejection to serotonin syndrome. This is well documented and is considered a hard contraindication whenever you're taking prescription drugs. It illustrates a broader point: the more supplements you combine, the greater the chance of unexpected interactions.

Where Johnson gets it right: sleep, exercise, and mindset

Not everything in Johnson's protocol is speculative. His emphasis on sleep hygiene and regular exercise aligns with the strongest evidence in the longevity literature. His focus on mood and mental structure is not misplaced either: gratitude practices have a reasonably well-supported positive effect on mood and possibly on sleep, though the impact on physical health or lifespan is too small to make firm claims.

What his protocol tells you about biohacking in general

Johnson's approach reveals where longevity research actually stands: animal models are far ahead of human trials, biomarkers still tell us relatively little about hard outcomes, and expensive variants rarely outperform well-formulated basic versions. That doesn't mean nothing works. It means the bar for human evidence is different from the bar for mice, and that a protocol that looks impressive on paper is no guarantee of a longer or healthier life.