DIY HEALTH: WHY BIOHACKING IS BOOMING

How startups, supplements and diagnostics are fuelling India's do-it-yourself health boom

- Shadma Shaikh

Last December, renowned biohacker and influencer Bryan Johnson stood in a conference room in Bengaluru and asked the audience a simple question: "What's causing you to deprioritize sleep?"

The room—filled with about 50 curated attendees, mostly male professionals and tech entrepreneurs in their 20s and 30s eager to optimize every aspect of their lives—had gathered to hear from Johnson, who has made it his mission to crack the code on longevity.

The crowd asked Johnson about everything from peptides and gene therapy to supplements.

Johnson's response was consistent: prioritize sleep, because it is the ultimate tool for longevity and efficiency.

As the evening unfolded, discussions ranged from fixing gut health and improving sleep patterns to deep dives into biochemical hacks for a longer and healthier life.

The event was a testament to India's growing interest in biohacking, a once-niche way of life now edging into the mainstream.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, biohacking is "a DIY (do it yourself) approach to self-care that uses everything from lifestyle changes to high-tech tools to improve your health".

Once a niche concept associated with Silicon Valley, it is rapidly gaining mainstream traction in India.

Social media influencers such as neuroscientist Andrew Huberman and longevity entrepreneur Johnson have cultivated a strong following in India's metro cities, fuelling public interest in a science-backed and data-driven approach to health.

In India, biohackers largely fall into two categories.

The first one is of those chasing peak productivity and longevity.

The second and larger category comprises people using biohacking to resolve underlying health issues that conventional medicine hasn't fully addressed.

A 23-year-old medical student, who wishes to remain anonymous, is in the first category.