Class notes

Biohacking and Gerontechnology

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Course
LISC385 (LISC385)

Institution
Queen’s University (QU )

Provides all module notes for the course covering topics: -Introduction to aging biohacking and gerontechnology -Biohacking and body modification -Biotechnologies, Bionics, & Cyborgs -Gerontechnology: Autonomy or Control? -Socio-Philosophical Implications of Anti-Aging Technology -Hackers, G...

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Number of pages 35
Written in 2020/2021
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gerontechnology
biohacking
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biohacking and gerontechnology

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Module 1-Introduction to aging biohacking and
gerontechnology
Sunday, January 10, 2021 1:34 PM

• Biohacking and biotechnologies provide individuals with the opportunity to modify the aging body to prevent or address age -related changes
• Gerontechnology provides ways to support and/or monitor the aging individual, recording and disseminating information about t hem to family and caregivers

Section 1-Normal Aging

⚫ Ageism
○ Defined as: the systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old
○ Ageist assumptions and stereotypes contribute to discrimination and devaluing of older adults
▪ Generalize people into groupings or categories based on chronological age and set up an "us vs. them" mindset
○ When groups of people are age segregated, their networks are homogenous and limit opportunities to learn about other people
▪ Has serious consequences for both older adults and society at large- can lead to barriers, preventing older people from successfully finding employm
and other opportunities
○ Creating space and opportunities for interaction amongst the ages = key
▪ (Hagestad and Uhlenberg, 2005): stable, lasting interactions in age-heterogenous settings are essential in combating ageism

⚫ Diversity of elders
○ Older population becoming increasingly diverse, with greater representation from individuals of color (more than 20% of the population) and those who
identify as LGBTQ+

⚫ Demographic of the older population
○ All individuals over the age of 65 are classified as older adults, but different terminology is often used as individuals approach 75
▪ 75-84 = old-old
▪ Anyone 85+ is among the oldest-old. Of this;
- Majority are women
- Many more widowed women than widowed men
- Their average personal income is generally lower than the rest of the older population
- They are disproportionately represented in hospitals and long-term care settings- possibly due to poverty and lack of social support as much as
physical limitations
▪ Oldest-old can be further divided into smaller age breakdowns: centenarians and supercentenarians
- Centenarian: person who is 100+ ; most are healthy, mentally alert, free of major disability, able to perform most daily acti vities, and are engag
in their communities
- Supercentenarian: 110+ ; have fewer chronic diseases and physical disabilities. Generally, this group has lower incidence of cardiovascular disea
compared to those younger than 110

⚫ Chronological age vs. internal age
○ 46% of older adults said that their age inside was 20-40 years less than their chronological age
○ Small percentage (8%) said their age inside is 41-70 years younger than their chronological age

⚫ Aging successfully in later years
○ Successful aging:
▪ According to the biomedical model, successful aging requires a combination of physical health and functional ability, high cognitive functioning, activ
involvement with society
▪ Often reported by many researches to remove the requirement for physical health as successful aging is often reported by people living with illness
○ Self-efficacy
▪ Confidence in the ability to exert control over one's own motivation, behavior, and social environment
○ Well-being
▪ State of being happy, healthy, or prosperous
○ Resilience
▪ Ability to thrive under difficult situations, turning adversity into a catalyst for growth and emotional well-being
○ Positive aging
▪ Being adaptable and proactive in coping with change; taking life in stride

⚫ Lifestyle of older adults
○ Older adults' lifestyle choices often mirror the activities they engaged in when they were younger adults, if they are financially and physically able to do so
○ Many older adults are living on a fixed income such as a pension or investments/RRSP
*pension: type of retirement plan that provides monthly income in retirement -a person or their employer makes regular contributions to this fund during
their working life

⚫ Social class and economic status
○ Social class is related to every measure of health, illness, and disability
○ As an individual gets older, their social class largely shapes what is possible in old age, including the option to decide how to spend one's time in work or
retirement
○ Social class is often a result of economic status, which varies amongst older adults
○ Major sources of income for older adults
▪ Canada pension and social security (USA)
▪ Other pensions
▪ Assets, such as interest-bearing savings and checking accounts, investments, home equity, and personal property
▪ Employment earnings

LISC385 (biohacking) Page 1

, ▪ Employment earnings
▪ Welfare (Ontario works)

⚫ Changing conceptions of work and retirement
○ Encore careers
▪ Refers to new "Retirement jobs" and places an emphasis on working by choice and for enjoyment
▪ In 2015, ~1/4 of older Canadians engage in paid work
▪ The movement also includes non-profit groups and programs that aim to help older workers find public service jobs that benefit society
○ Gliding out (phased retirement)
▪ May be offered to some older employees as a way to slowly transition from the workplace to retirement
▪ Also been associated with age-related discrimination including:
- Failure to be offered training
- Change in status from senior manager position to managerial position with less authority (even with same salary and benefits)
- Transfer, even with the same pay, to a dead-end job
- Gradual demotion by taking away job responsibilities
- Poor evaluations for same quality of work

⚫ Social gerontological theory basics
○ Age norms
▪ Serve to open up or close off the roles that people of a given chronological age can play
▪ Assumptions that we all make about age-related capacities and limitations
○ Socialization
▪ Lifelong process by which individuals learn to perform new roles , adjust to changing roles, relinquish old ones, learn a "social clock" of what is age
appropriate and thereby become integrated into society
○ Role discontinuity
▪ What was learned at one age may be useless or in conflict with role expectations at a later age

⚫ Social theories of aging
○ Modernization and aging theory
▪ Representative of theories that suggest that factors in the current economic and societal structures have changed the way younger generations value
older adults (ex, suggests that families in the modern era have little interest in caring for or supporting older adults)
○ Life course perspective
▪ Attempts to bridge structural/societal level and individual psychological level factors that affect human development
▪ Takes account of the role of individual decisions that affect one's future, along with the accumulation of risks and resources
▪ This theory acknowledges that age cohort and historical time, location, agency and relationships all affect the experience of aging
○ Social constructions
▪ Idea that knowledge and meaning are socially created, and thus, is not an objective representation of aging
▪ This interpretation means that aging is defined as a 'problem' by cultures and society, rather than by biology and the biological changes that occur
○ Feminist gerontology
▪ View that the experiences of women are often ignored in understanding the human condition
▪ This theory states that sex and/or gender is a primary factor when considering the implications of aging
▪ Incorporating a feminist perspective can broaden the understanding of aging and move beyond a singular focus on gender, enabling multiple aspects
diversity, including privilege and inequality, to be considered

Section 2- Introduction to biotechnology and biohacking

⚫ Background on hacking
○ In the 1960s, students and researchers at MIT gained the moniker of "hackers" as they developed technology that improved the operation of software and
hardware in the early days of computes
○ Original goal of hacking = advance computing and networking for the challenge of it
▪ This fell to the wayside as some hackers looked for ways to illicitly gain from their skills
○ Current goals of hacking:
▪ Permanently destroying data, software, or hardware in attacks
▪ Procuring information and access
▪ Disputing computer activity

⚫ Defining biotechnology
○ Originally used to refer to the use of living organisms to enhance crops, fuels, medical treatments and other tools
○ Term has extended to include pharmaceutical biotechnology and implanted technology (ex, cochlear implant, pacemaker)

⚫ Defining biohacking
○ Defined as: biological experimentation (as by gene editing or use of drugs or implants) done to improve the qualities or capabilities of living organisms esp.
individuals and groups working outside a traditional medical or scientific research environment
○ Can be described as citizen or DIY biological experimentation
▪ Can be something as simple as diet or lifestyle changes, in order to make small improvements in health and well-being
○ Also used to describe the application of technology to biological systems, mostly the human body, but could be applied to anything in the biosphere
○ List of possible biohacks
▪ Simple tweaks like keto diet or intermittent fasting
▪ Computer chips implanted in the body
▪ Gene editing

⚫ Examples of biohacking
➢ Nutrigenomics
▪ Science of how food interacts with individual function and health (how the food you eat interacts with your genes)

LISC385 (biohacking) Page 2

, ▪ Science of how food interacts with individual function and health (how the food you eat interacts with your genes)
▪ Also looks at how different nutrients affect how you feel, think, and behave
➢ DIY biology
▪ Type of biohacking spearheaded by people with education and experience in scientific fields
➢ Grinders and makers
▪ Subculture that hack their own bodies in numerous ways including through implantation
▪ Makers create things, using technology like 3D printing and are often self-taught

⚫ Nutrigenomics
○ Biohacking with nutrigenomics occurs when you manipulate what you eat to influence gene expression over time
▪ Ex, altering your diet to avoid developing a disease you are genetically proposed to get
○ Micronutrients, macronutrients, and naturally occurring bio-reactive chemicals regulate gene expression in diverse ways
○ Controversies;
▪ Lack of scientific evidence to support the use of nutrigenomics in daily life
- Currently no definite association between the genes examined in nutrigenomics testing and many diet -related diseases
▪ The ethical considerations associated with the application of nutrigenomics, including the emotional/mental toll this information could take and
whether these individuals are considered to be on a specialized diet

⚫ Nootropics
○ Group of OTC supplements and prescription drugs marketed as cognitive enhancers, aimed at improving memory, focus, and concentration
○ Examples:
➢ Ginkgo Biloba
▪ A tree native to China, seems to show protective effects against diseases like Alzheimer's, in both human and animal models
▪ Research also suggests this plant has antioxidant and anti-cancer effects
➢ Methylene blue
▪ Research has indicated that this has the ability to help protect the rain against some neurodegenerative disorders, along wit h cases of traumat
brain injury

⚫ DIY biology
○ Can involve diet, drugs, electronic technology, software, DNA and genes
○ Ex:
▪ Manipulating a plants genome to make it glow in the dark
▪ Genetically modifying bugs and animals
○ These biohackers share tips and techniques to help non-experts conduct structured experiments on themselves outside of a controlled experimental
environment, like labs or medical offices
○ Individual performing these type of experiments are termed grinders

⚫ Grinders and makers
○ Closely related to DIY biologists
○ Differentiated from DIY biologists because they are less regulated and tend to be more ad hoc
○ "hack" their own personal biology at home and often don’t have the same educations/scientific background as a DIY biologist
➢ Grinders
▪ Often integrate technology into their bodies to try to improve their health or function
➢ Makers
▪ Create things and often self-taught
▪ Extend beyond the scope of DIY biologists with the use of technology
▪ Often intersect with hacker culture with the creation of new technological devices and tinkering with existing ones
▪ Makers and biohackers converge at the 3D printer
▪ Makers become biohackers when, instead of using plastics, they're using biomaterials to build 3D structures
▪ Ex, using special bioinks (substances made of living cells that can be used for 3D printing of complex tissue models) made of living cells

⚫ Key concerns with biohacking/biotechnology
➢ Fear that this technology will be owned by a few large corporations that then get to decide who benefits
➢ Genetic modification is an unknown entity
➢ Multigenerational effects of genetic editing and its effect on the environment
➢ In non-lab research, lack of oversight to ensure experimental on animals is done only when necessary and treated ethically if performed

Section 3- Introduction to gerontechnology

• Gerontechnology: technology designed to be used by older adults
- Stereotypically associated with illness or lack of capacity in some area (important to take a problem-based approach rather than an aged-based approach)
• Current anti-aging technology includes stem cell therapy, gene therapy and gene editing, cybernetics (cochlear implants, artificial retina s, prosthetic limbs, etc.)
• Technological devices can further assist older adults to age in place, by monitoring health, supporting social connection, an d providing activities for leisure time
• Cutting edge of aging technology is nanotechnology, cell regeneration and whole brain emulation

⚫ Smartphones and tablets
○ By using these for communication, entertainment, education, and intellectual stimulating, they have helped older adults overcome loneliness, relieve stres
and promote independence & self-efficacy
○ Apps can be used to track and monitor older adults' behavior, physiological states, and location which can have both helpful and sinister connotations
▪ Pro: allows caregivers and family members to ensure that they are made aware of any change in health status
▪ Con: privacy invasion

⚫ Wearables for older adults
Personal fitness trackers (PFT) and smart watches (Fitbit, apple watch) are wearable devices that record data, such as physical movement, physiology data,

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, ○ Personal fitness trackers (PFT) and smart watches (Fitbit, apple watch) are wearable devices that record data, such as physical movement, physiology data,
and user inputted data
▪ Worn on the body and record data 24hrs/day
▪ May have additional functions such as sleep trackers, GPS locator/tracker, some are cell phone substitutes or will alert the wearer of phone calls, soc
media notifications, and even have the ability to make payments

Functions also apply to younger adults

○ Potential issues:
▪ Potential to be used for surveillance via GPS monitoring or just by text/email/phone contact, with or without permission
▪ Accuracy of data collected by these devices
- (Roseberger et al., 2015) devices they studies had a tendency to over report sleep, and many did not accurately record modera te activity
- Important because active older adults may move more slowly or less vigorously than younger adults and if this movement is not captures, it
results in readings that suggest the wearer is less active than they actually are

⚫ Home monitoring systems
○ Sometimes called ambient assisted living (ASL) system
○ Generally used for older adults who are perceived to need monitoring 24/7
○ Private spaces can be fitted with sensors that record data and can alert a caregiver if the older adult being monitored is perceived to be in need of assistanc
○ Role of sensors: can be placed throughout the home to monitor various activities and detect signs of concern:
▪ Detect when the fridge, medicine cabinet, or other door is open or closed
▪ Detect if the stove is on or if the water is left running
▪ Record activity in the bed, including respiration, heart rate, and movements
▪ Detect stumbling and/or falls
▪ Video recording of a room
○ Cost effective method of monitoring
▪ Cost is usually less than hiring someone to be with the older adult 24/7
○ Issues:
▪ Privacy concerns
- The devices collect data on the activities of older adults under surveillance, including what they do in the bedroom

⚫ Ethics of gerontechnology
○ Ethical considerations of obtaining data and where it may end up
○ During data transmission and storage, there is potential for issues to occur during transmission from the device collecting the information to the
analysis/storage site
▪ Ex, data in some cases is sent via wireless connection and transmitted to the web-server via Bluetooth, making it vulnerable to unauthorized access

Definitions
• Biotechnology: use of any technique involving living organisms to manufacture or change products, to improve the desired characteristics of a plant or animal, or
alter microorganisms for a purpose
• Gerontechnology: An interdisciplinary academic and professional field dedicated to creating technological environments, including assistive technology and
inclusive design, to support the independent living and social participation of older adults
• Biohacking: biological experimentation done by individuals and groups working outside a traditional medical or scientific research envi ronment to improve the
qualities or capabilities of living organisms

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