A biohacker hoping to outlive us all has this week opened up on his latest 'age-defying' project - 'sperm washing'.
Bryan Johnson, a 47-year-old billionaire and former media mogul, has made a name for himself across the globe recently after turning his attention from technology to living forever.
So far, it's understood that he's invested over $2 million per year (about £1.6 million) in this science as part of an organisation titled Project Blueprint.
His learnings so far have seen Johnson implement odd and often-drastic new measures into his daily rituals, including waking up at 5am, spending 4-5 hours on 'concentrated thought', undergoing daily health tests, becoming a vegan, and using dry saunas every day for 20 minutes.
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More recently, the Utah-born entrepreneur began injecting other people's fat into his face to provide a more youthful appearance, and measured the strength and regularity of both his and his son's overnight erections.
With nether regions in mind, Johnson has recently embarked on a new venture known as 'sperm washing'.
This laboratory technique describes the removal of active, healthy sperm from both empty semen and debris. The practice is most commonly used during fertility treatment, like intrauterine insemination (IUI) and in vitro fertilization (IVF).
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In Johnson's case, he has begun sperm washing in a bid to improve the quality of his batch, believing harmful microplastics reside within the rest of his semen. Since he undertook this special project, it was found that the concentration of microplastics in his semen drastically reduced from 165 per ml in November of last year, to just 20 ml in July just gone.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share his findings this week, he also revealed a similar drop in microplastics in his blood over the same time period.
"Important as a meta-analysis of 36 studies reveals that microplastics induce oxidative stress in the male reproductive system," Johnson noted.
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"Leading to testicular inflammation, cell death, and reduced testosterone levels, sperm production, and motility."
He went on to explain: "Two studies last year showed that microplastics were detected in every human testicular and semen sample tested.
"The therapy we think most responsible for this reduction is sauna, as it also eliminated most environmental toxins in my body, including those linked to various plastics (200 F, 20 min daily w/ ice on the boys).
"I also avoid the big no-nos like microwaving in plastic, using a plastic cutting board, and having a reverse osmosis water system.
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Johnson lastly added: "To our knowledge, this is the first report of any correlation (esp in the same person over two timepoints) between blood and semen microplastic levels, demonstrating successful microplastic detoxification in the semen following that in the blood."
Rhianna Benson