2027: Tides Rise
Biohacking transforms sleep science and neurological treatments, legal battles ensue over marketing claims, countries race to attract biohacking tourists
Elysium Health and Oneskin become the private company exemplars of the science-driven consumer trend. Their impressive performance, characterized by favorable customer acquisition costs and customer lifetime value, drives their price-to-earnings ratios to lofty levels. This success story opens the floodgates for private biohacking companies seeking capital. The consumer space looks towards real technology, not branding for company durability.
The ripple effects of this financial success are felt throughout the industry. Venture capital firms, once skeptical of the biohacking space, now actively seek out early-stage companies in the sector. Even traditional biotech funds (like RA Capital and Xontogeny), start branching out to write their first checks into biohacking-centric companies.
However, the industry's rapid ascent doesn't go unchallenged. Big Pharma, feeling the heat from these upstarts, launches an aggressive legal campaign against biohacking companies. Their primary target: the subliminal claims made in marketing materials and social media campaigns. This move signals the establishment's growing unease with the democratization of health optimization.
The legal battles that ensue become a major talking point in both industry publications and mainstream media. Biohacking companies are forced to reevaluate their marketing strategies, with some opting for more conservative approaches, while others double down on their claims, backed by a growing (but not complete) body of user-generated data. The courtroom drama brings increased scrutiny to the industry, but also serves to educate the public about the potential benefits and risks of biohacking.
Countries with relaxed regulations on off-label drug use and pharmaceutical manufacturing, such as Mexico, Honduras, and Dubai were already taking off but others, such as South Africa and India also try to entice biohacker tourists. Their selling points are around combinations of African and Indian traditional medicine mixed with cutting edge protocols. This trend draws comparisons to the psychedelic tourism of years past, especially in South Africa and India.
The rise of biohacker tourism leads to the emergence of specialized travel agencies and retreat centers catering to this niche market. Luxury resorts in these countries begin offering "optimization packages" that combine cutting-edge biohacking treatments with traditional wellness practices. This fusion of ancient wisdom and modern science becomes a powerful marketing tool, attracting both hardcore biohackers and curious newcomers.
The effects of widespread biohacking adoption begin to show in population-level health metrics. Thanks to next-generation peptides and other weight loss interventions, the percentage of obese Americans drops from 40% in 2024 to 31% in 2026. Health economists project this could increase the average US lifespan from 76 to 80 years if the trend continues. This trend gives credence to insurance upstarts (HealthAll and BioSure) both for increased funding and use. Many customers opt-out of their worker-subsidized insurance to subscribe to these companies instead, given incentives and access to higher level interventions.
Nationally, nutrition labels are updated to adjust based on individuals height, weight, and sex which engenders goodwill with US citizens. Just like sports and watching TV are hobbies, biohacking becomes a water cooler conversation topic, with people trading ideas on different interventions, stacks, and protocols.
In an unexpected twist, the anti-vaccination movement experiences a sea change. Observing the positive effects of biohacker interventions on middle-aged and older individuals, many former skeptics reverse their stance on modern medicine. As a result, vaccination rates for kindergarten children climb from 93% to an impressive 97% over just three years. This shift in public opinion has far-reaching consequences beyond just vaccination rates. The newfound trust in science and medical interventions leads to increased participation in clinical trials, faster adoption of new treatments, and a general improvement in patient compliance across various health conditions. Public health officials and researchers seize this opportunity to make significant strides in areas that were previously hampered by skepticism and mistrust.
The general disenchantment leads the US government to require third party testing of all supplements sold in the US but with an effective date of 2029, leaving biohackers in the dark in 2026. MoleculeDAO continues to spin-out sub-DAOs, such as SupplementDAO. This DAO has many functions:
Test supplement content
Run decentralized clinical trials around the supplements
Publish the results via social media and medical journals, working towards both distribution and legitimacy.
SupplementDAO’s NEJM publication is the first high-profile publication by a biohacking company. Other studies have been published in niche journals. This publication slowly starts to engender more support from some areas of the academic community, though many remain skeptical. The broader supplement report by SupplementDAO is shared in mainstream news sources given the public’s awareness of the movement and a source of truth for supplement suppliers. This broad circulation leads to ‘normies’ buying some SupplementDAO tokens and joining the Discord for the first time for more supplement discourse. Biohacking brings many first-time crypto users to the industry broadly and DAOs specifically for the first time.
From Hormones to Hoops
The quest for longevity takes an interesting turn as some male biohackers, inspired by women's higher life expectancy, begin experimenting with estrogen supplementation.
This practice sparks heated debates within both the trans and biohacker communities, raising questions about the ethics of gender-based interventions for non-identity reasons. The controversy surrounding estrogen use by male biohackers forces the community to grapple with complex ethical questions. Conferences and online forums become battlegrounds for discussions on the intersection of gender identity, biological optimization, and personal freedom. Some argue that the practice trivializes the experiences of transgender individuals, while others defend it as a logical extension of the biohacking ethos. The debate eventually leads to the formation of new ethical guidelines within the biohacking community, emphasizing respect for gender identity while still allowing for exploration of hormonal optimization.
On the technological front, a rising neurotech startup makes waves by successfully lobbying the NBA to allow their focused ultrasound (FUS) devices during professional games. Star players like Caitlyn Clark and Jared McCain see a noticeable increase in scoring and decrease in turnovers, igniting a consumer frenzy for the technology. The introduction of FUS devices in professional basketball opens the floodgates for similar technologies in other sports.
Taylor Swift, after releasing a new album every three months for a year, confesses in a song that she uses FUS to fuel her productivity and creativity. The line between natural talent and technological augmentation becomes increasingly blurred, leading to philosophical debates about the nature of human achievement in the 21st century.
Wearable devices begin to experiment with drawing power largely from the wearer's body heat, allowing for further miniaturization and integration into daily life. These new ultra-compact wearables find applications beyond health tracking, becoming integral to personal security, environmental monitoring, and even fashion.
The fashion industry embraces this new technology, with high-end designers collaborating with tech companies to create stylish, functional wearables that blur the line between jewelry and health devices. As climate change increases temperatures worldwide, self-cooling clothing becomes a fad across the globe, further integrating technology and culture.
Meanwhile, a breakthrough in protein sequencing technology enables $100 consumer-grade proteome analysis, kickstarting a "mechanism of action renaissance" in personalized health. This democratization of advanced diagnostics leads to a surge in citizen science initiatives, with individuals tracking their proteomes over time and correlating changes with various biohacking interventions. Online communities form around specific protein profiles, with members sharing tips and experiences to optimize their health based on their unique biochemistry.
Biotech vs. Biohackers
The year witnesses several other notable advancements: nutritionally enhanced plants make their way from niche health food stores to mainstream supermarket shelves, transforming the average consumer's diet without requiring significant behavior changes.
BlueRock Therapeutics reports promising Phase 2 results in attenuating Parkinson's disease via their cell therapies, offering hope to millions of patients and their families. In a landmark achievement, the first full reversal of Alzheimer's disease is reported in a billionaire-funded n-of-1 study, combining stem cell and nucleic acid therapies. While the treatment is still far from being widely available, it provides a proof of concept that galvanizes research efforts worldwide. The published paper circulates in biohacking circles and is attempted to be replicated in all the major hubs - Dubai, Mexico, and Honduras. Funding for neurodegenerative disease research skyrockets, and collaborations between academia and industry reach unprecedented levels. ARPA-N is doubled in size to translate even more neuroscience from bench to bedside.
REM sleep enhancers, developed from the 2025 research, are now widely available after successful human trials, improving memory, creativity, and emotional regulation. Galantamine has evolved into sophisticated "dream engineering," allowing for controlled lucid dreaming experiences used for problem-solving, skill practice, and therapy.
Advanced sleep monitoring via non-invasive brain-computer interfaces provides real-time data on sleep stages and dream content, integrated with health tracking apps. Personalized sleep programs combine pharmaceuticals, brain monitoring, and brain modulation devices. "Sleep biotics" leverage gut microbiome research to enhance sleep quality naturally. While some experiment with polyphasic sleep patterns for efficiency, experts warn of potential risks, which naturally go largely ignored. As sleep enhancement goes mainstream, ethical debates arise about consciousness and societal impacts, yet millions embrace these technologies to optimize their rest and waking lives.
As the biohacking industry matures, major pharmaceutical companies begin to validate and manufacture select gray-market peptides. Despite this, their selective approach leaves ample room for nimble startups to innovate and carve out niches in the expanding market. This partial legitimization of the peptide market creates a complex regulatory landscape, with some peptides gaining FDA approval while others remain in a legal gray area.
The confluence of cheap protein sequencing and advanced computational biology models leads to unprecedented improvements in drug discovery and personalized medicine. This development catches some protein sequencing companies off guard, as they belatedly realize that the real value lies in model development and insight generation rather than raw data production. A new breed of biotech companies emerges, focusing on AI-driven analysis of proteomics data to identify novel drug targets and predict individual responses to various interventions.
By year's end, the biohacking movement has left an indelible mark on society. Two percent of women now routinely store their ovarian tissue, while 10% of men biobank their sperm by age 25. This shift in reproductive planning reflects a growing awareness of the impact of aging on fertility and a desire to keep options open for future family planning. Fertility clinics expand their services to cater to this new market, offering long-term storage solutions and genetic counseling services.
Traditional lab testing companies like Labcore and Quest Diagnostics find themselves in an enviable position, serving as the foundation for a new generation of consumer diagnostics firms as their market caps approach north of $40bn. These established players leverage their existing infrastructure and regulatory expertise to partner with innovative startups, creating hybrid services that combine the reliability of traditional testing with the user-friendly interfaces and rapid turnaround times demanded by the biohacking community.
However, not all players benefit from this paradigm shift. Traditional pharmaceutical companies see their market capitalizations decrease on average by 10% as biohacking alternatives gain traction and their regulatory advantages erode. This disruption forces big pharma to reevaluate their business models, with some companies making strategic acquisitions in the biohacking space while others double down on developing "super drugs" that promise benefits beyond what current biohacking techniques can offer.
China has leveraged its state-funded AI-driven biotech research to become a world leader in continuous hormone monitoring and protein design, integrating these advancements into its controversial social credit system that now incorporates citizens' health data. Dubai has solidified its position as a premier destination for high-end health tourism, offering exclusive gene therapies and personalized medicine to wealthy individuals in futuristic clinics, further cementing its status as a global hub for medical innovation.
