Bryan Johnson, the tech entrepreneur and self-described biohacker who has become known for his extreme anti-ageing regime, has revealed that he keeps his girlfriend's menstrual blood in his freezer as part of a women's health research project. The disclosure has prompted renewed scrutiny of his methods.
In a post on X this week, the 48-year-old published a photograph of his girlfriend, Kate Tolo, 30, with the caption: «Kate's period blood is in my -80 °C freezer. Around 10 mL.» The couple say they are studying women's health using the stored sample. The post gave no further details of their plans.
Johnson, who boasts that he is «certainly the most biologically measured person ever», has devoted his life to trying to reverse his biological age and live forever. His daily routine involves taking dozens of supplements, following a strictly controlled diet and tracking every biomarker he can measure, in a quest to become the healthiest person in the world. The 48-year-old has described his ultimate goal as nothing less than living forever.
The latest revelation has drawn a mixture of fascination and caution. Writing in the Guardian, columnist Arwa Mahdawi acknowledged that studying women's health is a worthy goal, but suggested that some scepticism may be in order. She described Johnson as a «chronic oversharer» engaged in a «quixotic quest» to dodge death, and noted that his all-consuming focus on his own biology has now extended to his girlfriend's.
Mahdawi also observed the odd contrast at the heart of Johnson's domestic life. Given his famously disciplined eating habits, his freezer is hardly the place to look for ice cream; instead, it now contains around 10 millilitres of his girlfriend's period blood, stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius.
It is not the first time the couple's approach to health has attracted attention. Tolo's involvement in Johnson's longevity project has been described in reports as turning her body into a $2.6 million science experiment. Johnson has also teased the launch of a so-called «techno tampon» designed to track her menstrual cycle. Whether the device will reach the market remains unclear.
Johnson's willingness to share intimate details of his life and body on social media has long been central to his public image. From his diet and his test results to the contents of his freezer, little is kept private. This post, however, shifted the focus from his own body to his partner's.
Mahdawi's column stops short of dismissing the project. She accepts that studying women's health is a legitimate and worthwhile aim, while urging a measure of scepticism about the couple's methods and the way they choose to share them.
Whether storing menstrual blood in a domestic freezer will meaningfully advance research into women's health remains an open question. For now, the episode has ensured that Johnson's name is once again at the centre of an online conversation about the boundaries of biohacking, the ethics of making a partner's biology public, and the question of what, exactly, belongs in a -80 °C freezer.
