Who is Bryan Johnson and what is Project Blueprint?
Bryan Johnson is a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist best known for founding Braintree, a mobile payments company later acquired by PayPal. After stepping away from the demands of the tech world, Johnson embarked on a highly publicized journey into biohacking and anti-aging, documenting his every move under the initiative he calls 'Project Blueprint'. With an annual budget of over $2 million, Johnson and a team of more than 30 medical experts meticulously monitor and optimize every facet of his biological being, from organ function and inflammation to diet and sleep. His goal is to reverse his biological age and achieve optimal health metrics across all his organs.
Project Blueprint has attracted a mix of fascination and heavy skepticism due to its unusual, expensive, and often experimental nature. Johnson shares his data and findings openly online, positioning himself as a human guinea pig for the future of longevity. The regimen involves a vast number of daily interventions, including a strict vegan diet, a complex supplement stack, and a rigorous exercise routine.
The multi-generational plasma exchange
In 2023, Bryan Johnson made headlines for an experimental blood plasma exchange involving three generations of his family: himself, his teenage son Talmage, and his elderly father, Richard. The procedure, which took place at a medical spa, involved the following steps:
- A liter of blood was drawn from his 17-year-old son, Talmage, and separated into its components.
- The resulting plasma from Talmage was then infused into Bryan Johnson.
- Bryan Johnson, in turn, donated a liter of his own plasma to his 70-year-old father, Richard.
The idea for the experiment was reportedly inspired by studies in rodents showing that older mice that share a circulatory system with younger mice experience signs of rejuvenation. These parabiosis experiments, however, have not been replicated with compelling results in humans.
The outcome of the blood exchange
Following the controversial procedure, Johnson and his team carefully evaluated the results using a variety of biomarkers. Despite the buzz and sensational headlines, Johnson ultimately concluded that the plasma transfusions from his son yielded no detectable benefits for his own health metrics. In a public post, he stated, “Evaluated biomarkers from biofluids, devices and imaging, no benefits detected”.
Interestingly, Johnson did report that his father, Richard, who received plasma from Bryan, saw a significant improvement in his biological age. According to Johnson's assessment, his father's aging rate slowed dramatically, though he admitted it was unclear whether this was due to the plasma infusion or simply the removal of his own aging plasma. The family-based experiment drew widespread criticism from the medical community, with many experts highlighting the unproven and potentially risky nature of such transfusions.
Why did Bryan Johnson stop getting blood transfusions from his son?
Johnson's decision to discontinue the family plasma transfusions was based on his data-driven approach. When his own biomarkers showed no improvement from receiving his son's plasma, he saw no justification for continuing the procedure. He has since moved on to a different, more advanced procedure called a total plasma exchange (TPE).
In a TPE, all of a person's plasma is removed and replaced with a saline and albumin solution. Johnson cites the potential for removing age-related toxins as the therapeutic objective, though this treatment is still in an experimental phase for his specific purpose. This change of course demonstrates Johnson's willingness to abandon interventions that fail to show measurable results within his Project Blueprint framework. It also reflects the broader, often uncertain, nature of experimental longevity therapies.
Controversy and ethical concerns
Bryan Johnson's 'young blood' experiments attracted significant controversy and raised numerous ethical questions. Here is a comparison of the contrasting perspectives surrounding the practice:
| Point of Contention | Bryan Johnson's Perspective | Scientific/Ethical Community's Perspective |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific Basis | Bases interventions on animal studies (parabiosis) and is open to sharing human data. | Notes that human evidence is lacking and preclinical studies in mice were in mice were controversial and possibly misinterpreted. |
| Efficacy | Aims to achieve measurable improvements in biological age and health markers, documenting successes and failures transparently. | Emphasizes that there is no proven clinical benefit for reversing aging and that the practice is potentially harmful. |
| Safety | Performs procedures in controlled clinical settings and relies on a large team of medical professionals. | Highlights inherent risks of any transfusion, such as allergic reactions, respiratory complications, and disease transmission. |
| Ethics | Views the experiment as a consensual, data-driven family endeavor and a public service for the longevity field. | Raises concerns about the exploitation of a family member, particularly a minor, for a scientifically unproven and expensive procedure. |
| Purpose | Part of a relentless, multi-million dollar quest to push the boundaries of human longevity and health. | Characterizes the practice as an unproven, expensive fad catering to the anxieties of the wealthy about mortality. |
The FDA's warning
In 2019, long before Johnson's public exchange, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a stark warning to consumers about plasma transfusions from young donors, noting a rise in companies offering the therapy for thousands of dollars. The FDA stated that it was “not aware of evidence that demonstrates any clinical benefit of the infusion of plasma from young donors” for conditions like aging or memory loss. The agency emphasized that transfusions carry risks and that any such procedures outside of approved and regulated clinical trials are dangerous and unsubstantiated.
Conclusion
Bryan Johnson is the tech millionaire who garnered global attention for undergoing a blood plasma exchange with his son as part of his radical anti-aging protocol, 'Project Blueprint'. The experiment, which also involved his father, was a dramatic example of his no-holds-barred approach to longevity. However, after a thorough review of his own biomarkers, Johnson found no evidence of a benefit from his son's plasma and ended the practice. The incident brought renewed focus to the controversial nature of 'young blood' transfusions, a practice the FDA has publicly warned against due to a lack of evidence and inherent safety risks. While Johnson has moved on to other experimental procedures, his family blood exchange remains one of the most talked-about and cautionary tales in the world of biohacking.
