Biohacker Investigation Is Dropped by California Medical Board

(Bloomberg) -- California regulators have closed an investigation into whether the infamous biohacker Josiah Zayner was practicing medicine without a license.

In a letter dated Sept. 25 that Zayner shared with Bloomberg News on Tuesday, the Medical Board of California wrote that it had concluded its investigation and that “no further action is anticipated.”

“When I received the letter about being investigated, it was one of the scariest days of my life,” Zayner said. “I’m not committing crime. I am just trying to make science and knowledge accessible.”

The California Department of Consumer Affairs told Zayner in May that it had received a “complaint of unlicensed practice of medicine” and requested that he appear for an interview. Zayner, a one-time NASA scientist with a Ph.D. in biophysics, has earned both fame and scrutiny for carrying out daredevil scientific stunts. At a conference, he once shocked the audience by injecting himself with the gene-editing tool Crispr.

Anyone can file complaints with California’s medical board, but the agency doesn’t always pursue them. In its letters to Zayner, the board didn’t say who had filed the original complaint. When asked for comment on Tuesday, the board said information on its investigations is confidential.

In California, practicing medicine without a license can be a misdemeanor or a felony, with penalties of as much as three years in prison. Zayner, 38, said the threat of incarceration may have a chilling effect on his work.

Biohackers like Zayner publicly advocate for the democratization of technologies like genome editing. He’s the chief executive officer of a company that sells inexpensive tools for genetic engineering. At times, he’s given advice to people with serious illnesses about novel research they might explore.

In July, California passed legislation intended to discourage do-it-yourself gene editing, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also said it’s illegal to sell such kits intended for use in humans.

So far, most biohacking experiments in humans have failed or fizzled, but some proponents have recently signaled a desire to adopt stricter standards for DIY work.

“I know it’s not the last time I hear from the government,” Zayner said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristen V. Brown in San Francisco at kbrown340@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Drew Armstrong at darmstrong17@bloomberg.net, Mark Schoifet, Timothy Annett

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.