Bryan Johnson Says His 'Newborn Self' 'Clone' Could Grow Organs, Become His Own 'Blood Boy'

Bryan Johnson says lab-grown cells from his own blood could one day grow replacement organs, test risky therapies before he tries them and even serve as his personal 'blood boy' supply, as the anti-ageing entrepreneur shifts from trying to slow ageing to attempting to rebuild his body after being diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease.

Johnson announced the experiment on X this week, describing it as the first practical example of a new medical approach inspired by his diagnosis with autoimmune gastritis, a chronic condition that attacks the stomach lining and currently has no cure.

He argued that advances in artificial intelligence, stem-cell engineering and genetic technologies mean diseases once considered untreatable should no longer be viewed as permanently incurable.

Johnson Says Cells Could One Day Rebuild His Body

'I just cloned myself... as a newborn,' Johnson wrote.

He said the laboratory-grown cells could eventually allow him to 'become my own blood boy', grow organs for transplantation, test therapies before using them himself, develop new treatments and inject young cells back into his body.

'This baby-Bryan lives in a petri dish for now,' he said, adding that while some people may view the work as dystopian, others would see it as 'the inevitable future of health'.

Johnson previously attracted attention for undergoing plasma exchanges involving his teenage son. His latest experiment points instead towards using his own reprogrammed cells to repair or replace damaged tissue.

What Johnson Actually Created

Despite Johnson's description of the experiment as creating a 'clone', the procedure appears to involve induced pluripotent stem cells, or iPSCs, rather than creating a cloned human embryo.

According to Johnson, researchers collected his blood cells before applying Yamanaka factors, proteins that reprogramme adult cells into an embryonic-like state.

Those cells can theoretically develop into many specialised tissues, including neurons, heart muscle and retinal cells, forming the foundation of regenerative medicine research.

Johnson said the long-term goal is to rebuild his body 'organ by organ' using cells derived from his own DNA, reducing the risk of immune rejection associated with donor tissue.

'This technology gives us a path to reverse aging', he added.

Autoimmune Diagnosis Changed Johnson's Thinking

The experiment follows Johnson's recent disclosure that he had been diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis.

Rather than viewing the diagnosis as a setback, Johnson said it had changed how he thinks about medicine.

'In the age of AI, multiomics, and custom-built DNA, proteins, and cells, no condition should be presumed incurable simply because no one has yet tried to cure it with today's stack,' he wrote in a separate post.

Johnson described the stem-cell experiment as 'the first example' of that philosophy.

Science Has Moved Faster Than Organ Replacement

Researchers have studied induced pluripotent stem cells for nearly two decades, and clinical trials are already investigating their use in conditions including Parkinson's disease, heart damage and vision loss.

Growing fully functioning replacement organs, however, remains an experimental goal that scientists say will require years of additional research before becoming routine clinical practice.

Johnson has not released independent data or scientific validation beyond his public explanation of the experiment.

The announcement nevertheless reignited debate over the future of regenerative medicine, with supporters describing it as a glimpse of personalised healthcare and critics comparing it to dystopian science fiction.