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Meet the biohackers seeking to turbocharge their bodies and minds

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Meet the biohackers seeking to turbocharge their bodies and minds
Copyright  Reuters / Thomas Peter
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Biohackers believe that we should be using all the technology available to make our bodies and minds work the best they can in everyday life. And they held a summit about it in Helsinki over the weekend

Most people who've heard of Biohacking think of electronic chips inserted under the skin - Cyborg stuff. But here they're promoting a wearable ring to measure the body.

People like Ramsey who's testing out a machine which steadily takes the body to air conditions you'd expect at high altitude...believe in using all the information and modern technology available to optimse human performance.

"I feel amazing - mentally and cognitively - like a stoic. I wake up every morning feeling like the Hulk," says Ramsey Morgan - Biohacker from Seattle, USA.

The movement is trying to make itself more mainstream and accessible.

"That can be like nutrition and diet, that can be taking a sauna, that can be just meditating, that can be injecting yourself with stem cells or something like that. All of these things are exapmles of Biohacking. You're changing your physiological state in order to achieve a certain goal," explains Siim Land - Estonian Biohacker.

And while most of us probably don't get enough sleep, the Biohackers say there's vibration technology to help.

"It affects to the nervous system by calming down the sypathetic side, the fight and fleet [flight] side. So basically, when you calm that down, the sleep comes naturally. You don't have to take any pills or anything," says Katja Nyman - Neurosonic.

One of the products here at the Biohackers summit is the Vielight Neuron, and our reporter, Jack Parrock tested it out.

"This a photobiomodulation device , so this applicator goes inside your nostril like that. And then the headpiece goes on top of your head," Gennady Lemud, VieLight Communications and Marketing Director tells our reporter.

The light rays being pumped onto my head and up my nose are intended to increase oxygenation in the blood and boost performance and happiness. But at well over 15 hundred euros, these devices aren't cheap.

Some Biohackers use blood tests to regularly check their liver function. One of the most controversial aspects of Biohacking is DNA testing. The medical community is still cautious and there are concerns about the data that's harvested by companies. They say there's nothing to worry about.

"We're looking at a few snips, a few genes...100...nothing. So we can't use that information for anything more than delivering information back to you as the consumer or the customer," says Chris Moore - Nordic Laboratories

It's not all so technical - getting in a sauna and a 4 degree celsius bath is enough for some Biohackers. But with the ever evolving technological world we live in - these guys think they're the future.