Biohacker Josiah Zayner meets with California regulators investigating him: ‘It was surreal’

jruhu tlem hcqkrisrsith e xn padcwad dzro
Image: Josiah Zayner

A few weeks ago, the prominent biohacker Josiah Zayner took to Instagram to break some news: He had received a letter from the California Department of Consumer Affairs saying that officials were investigating him.

…California officials asked him to come in for an in-person interview.

[Zayner:]…They had their files and opened up their manila envelopes to look through stacks of paper and all their questions and research on me. It was surreal. It kind of felt like I was in an ’80s criminal drama or something like that.

…

[Zayner:] I’ve had many opportunities to provide reasonable medical treatment to people — and I haven’t. … My goal is to help people and educate people — not to wind up in jail. And I want to do it in a way that provides people with the proper standard of care and proper protections that they need, even if it is somewhat biohackery or underground.

…

[Zayner:] I think the thing that all these regulators and people don’t understand … is you can’t stop this stuff. … Taking me down isn’t going to do anything — especially when I’m the one who’s trying to promote doing things correctly and doing things safely.

Read full, original post: ‘It felt like an ’80s criminal drama’: What happened when a biohacker met bureaucrats investigating him

Related Articles

Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer

Infographic: Global regulatory and health research agencies on whether glyphosate causes cancer

Does glyphosate—the world's most heavily-used herbicide—pose serious harm to humans? Is it carcinogenic? Those issues are of both legal and ...

Most Popular

Bayer Crop Circle in Golden Wheat
Making fertilizer from thin air: Bayer’s gene-editing innovation could dramatically cut chemical fertilizer use in growing food
Glossy Plastic Bag of Tokens and Labels
Viewpoint: How CNN got played by environmental activists pushing a plastics scare and litigation agenda
Picture1
Viewpoint: How badly is the U.S. food-safety net fraying? FDA’s bungled handling of the tainted lettuce crisis deepens concerns over cuts to disease tracking and response
Screenshot-2026-10-30-at-10.55.54-AM
Longevity scandal: The huckster who validates the ‘oldest people in the world’ claims
Screenshot-2026-10-28-at-3.00.44-PM
Viewpoint: Activist attacks on corporations increasingly depend on "attribution" science to target oil companies for global climate change
Red and Green Embroidered Campaign Caps
Viewpoint: The fragile (and often bizarre) MAHA-MAGA-far left health-and-chemicals coalition is fracturing. Here’s why
ChatGPT-Image-Mar-10-2026-01_39_01-PM
Viewpoint—“Miracle molecule” debunked: Why acemannan supplements don’t work
Screenshot-2026-11-03-at-3.16.18-PM
Trump is “terminating” Biden-era rule aimed at cutting climate-warming methane emissions from oil and gas drilling
Reaching Through the Woven Sky
Challenging genetic modification rejectionists: Our evolving food system has relied on science for thousands of years
Screenshot-2026-10-21-at-11.30.51-AM
Viewpoint: Yes, our food system stinks, but the attack of ultra-processed foods is often misplaced
Robots in a Futuristic Conference Meeting
Helpful until we’re helpless? Researchers warn AI is gradually eroding human control
Screenshot 2026-07-29 at 10.40
The COVID vaccine turbo cancer scare is back. Science still proves it’s wrong.
Screenshot-2026-10-30-at-11.36.40-AM
An Earth-saving benefit of global warming?: How fossil fuel-burning humans stopped the looming Ice Age
Prescription Capsules Scattered on Twenty-Dollar Bills
Facts & Fallacies podcast: America's health care system is broken. A doctor explains how to fix it, Part 2
glp menu logo outlined

Get news on human & agricultural genetics and biotechnology delivered to your inbox.