Bryan Johnson, the controversial 45-year-old tech billionaire on a mission to "turn 18 again," has raised eyebrows with the latest addition to his anti-aging regimen: penis rejuvenation therapy.
The longevity-obsessed entrepreneur revealed on Twitter that he has started receiving shockwave treatment on his penis three times a week, aiming to achieve teenage-level erections that last over three hours per night.
Johnson's announcement lit up social media, with mixed reactions pouring in. Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk simply replied with a vomit emoji, suggesting his disgust at the concept. In a separate tweet, Musk reiterated his belief that there should be a limit to human lifespan—in stark contrast to Johnson's public quest for longevity.
The serial entrepreneur is known for founding payments startup Braintree (acquired by PayPal) and investing $2 million per year into anti-aging research that uses his own body as a testbed—and he's no stranger to radical biohacking techniques. Through his intensive "Project Blueprint," Johnson claims to have reduced his biological age to the equivalent of a 30-year-old.
Shockwave therapy delivers sound waves to the penis to improve blood flow and potentially treat erectile dysfunction. While some studies have shown positive effects, it is still an experimental approach that is not approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, many of Johnson’s treatments—like pervious blood transfusions from his teenage son—are experimental, even though the results (successful or not) are documented.
In a X post, Johnson commented that his goal is to be erect for 3 hours and 30 minutes a night. He hopes to increase his current average nocturnal erection duration of 2 hours and 12 minutes—which his tweet appears to suggest is that of a 49-year-old man—to match that of a healthy 18-year-old.
He also wants to achieve an “Erection Hardness Score” of 4 out of 4 stars, sharing a whimsical visual scale that ranges from the firmness of what appears to be tofu or cheese (1 out of 4 stars) to a cucumber (4 out of 4), with peeled and unpeeled bananas in between. Talk about scientific accuracy.
Johnson first tweeted about the therapy last week, but has continued to share his regimen and plans, including with a "Rejuvenating Johnson's Johnson" chart on Thursday.
Perhaps Johnson may seem like the real life representation of a mad scientist, but his unorthodox lifestyle is yielding positive results, at least in theory. Among some of his achievements, if true, Johnson mentions slowing his aging pace, reducing his free testosterone index (FTI) biological age by 20 years, improving the quality of over 30 organs and registering over 50 optimal clinical biomarkers.
The bigger debate underlying this strange tale centers on just how far science should go towards radical life extension, and whether the human lifespan should remain finite. With rapid advances in biotech and AI, Johnson and his fellow Silicon Valley immortalist-seekers are determined to find out.
Love him or hate him, the biohacker billionaire will likely continue pushing boundaries in his defiant march against aging. For better or worse, Johnson's journey forces society to ponder a future where reversing aging could become normalized for those with the means.
And you can bet that, if humanity achieves immortality, every single man on earth will want to have 3-hour long erections.
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