Citizen Bio (2020)

Citizen Bio: Directed by Trish Dolman. With Aaron Traywick, Russ Foxx, David Ishee, Anastasia Synn. CITIZEN BIO follows the stories of four of America’s most notorious bio-hackers and their relationships with Aaron Traywick, self-proclaimed bio-hacker who was found dead at a meditation spa at the age of 28.

“u0026quot;Citizen Biou0026quot; (2020 release; 96 min.) is a documentary about the the world of biohacking and related subcultures. As the movie opens, we are introduced to biohacker/free spirit Aaron Traywick, who is found dead at age 28. We then go to u0026quot;A Few Months Earlieru0026quot;, as Traywick retells of his upbringing in Elsmore, Alabama, and eventually ending up in u0026quot;Bethesda, Marylandu0026quot;, where his niece and lobbyist gives him a job in a healthcare non-profit. It isnu0026#39;t long before Traywick wades into the biohacking subculture, without any scientific background, promoting various u0026quot;curesu0026quot; along the way. At this point we are less than 15 min. into the documentary.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCouple of comments: this is the latest documentary from longtime producer (and here also director) Trish Dolman, whose previous work includes u0026quot;Eco-Pirate: The Story of Paul Wilsonu0026quot;. Here she looks at the world of biohacking and related subcultures. Never heard of Biohacking? Neither had I, but we get a Biohacking 101 introduction: a subculture of non-scientists who love to (self)experiment outside the mainstream (without FDA supervision) for major diseases like HIV, herpes and so forth. Is this even legal? Just watch. I must admit, I was taken aback by some of this, and frankly confused as to what the heck was going on for a good part of the film. And what exactly led to Traywicku0026#39;s death? All is revealed in due course. I almost gave up on this film halfway through but in the end stuck it out as I wanted to understand what happened to Traywick. But when all was said and done, I felt pretty much unmoved. Itu0026#39;s one thing to want to u0026quot;stick it to the manu0026quot;, as these biohackers clearly feel, but itu0026#39;s another thing when we are talking serious and major healthcare issues undertaken by non-scientists.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Citizen Biou0026quot; premiered on Showtime this weekend, and is now available on SHO On Demand and other streaming services. If you have any interest in biohacking or in shady/edgy healthcare practices, Iu0026#39;d readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.”