Ep. 15 - Aaron Traywick of Ascendance Biomedical

In this installment of the Future Grind podcast, host Ryan O’Shea speaks with Ascendance Biomedical CEO Aaron Traywick. Aaron is a controversial figure that seeks to democratize access to unregulated, experimental, and some would say potentially dangerous medical treatments and enhancements. An experimental HIV treatment that his company created is currently being tested in a human, and Aaron recently made headlines when he injected himself with an experimental herpes treatment while one stage at the BDYHAX human augmentation conference in Austin. He hopes to prove these treatments safe and them make them available to others who would like to access them.

Warning: Self-administering any type of unregulated gene-therapy or other treatment is risky. Anything that Aaron mentions during this interview should be viewed as experimental research compounds not intended for human use. I encourage you to consult your doctor with any questions.

Despite the controversy surrounding Aaron and his work, I feel that this conversation is an important one to have. I was very interested in his background and the philosophy behind his work, and I think that you will be as well. For better or worse, DIY gene therapy will only continue to grow. Aaron has positioned himself near the forefront of this movement, and I think we’d all be better served if we understood more about it.

Find Aaron on Facebook here.

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Show Notes

• Aaron’s interest in tackling aging [2:02]

• Exploring South America & the work of Timothy Leary [4:13]

• Founding the Global Healthspan Policy Institute [6:01]

• The goal of Ascendance Biomedical [12:55]

• Aaron’s educational background [14:03]

• Thoughts on transhumanism & transhumanist politics [15:51]

• Aaron doesn’t identify as a transhumanist or biohacker [17:21]

• Problems with traditional medicine & DIY home medicine for everyone [18:25]

• Concern about human trials of experimental treatments [22:25]

• The controversial injection onstage at BDYHAX [24:44]

• Update on Tristan Roberts experimental HIV treatment [31:11]

• Expansion to Venezuela; Metrics for success [33:03]

• The FDA statement & regulation [36:14]

• The future of Ascendance Biomedical [42:13]

• Departure of talent & current team [45:08]

• Future projects & public voting platform [45:39]

• Personal steps Aaron is taking to combat aging [47:02]

• How to reach out & follow along with Aaron [49:20]

Mentioned

Robert Anton Wilson
Timothy Leary
Global Healthspan Policy Institute
Edwina Rogers
Methuselah Foundation
Kevin Perrot
SENS Research Foundation
Dr. Nir Barzilai, Dr. Judith Campisi, Dr. Gordon Lithgow, Dr. S. Jay Olshansky
Metformin
Jonas Salk
Tristan Roberts
Ford Fischer's News2Share Live Stream
Josiah Zayner, The ODIN
FDA Statement - "Information About Self-Administration of Gene Therapy"
Tim Ferriss' book Tools of Titans
Dom D’Agostino
Rapamycin
Dr. James Kirkland Study

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