The Biohacking Tool That Will Change the World (Mitochondrial Transfusions) : 1304
The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey
Dave Asprey
4.6 • 7.3K Ratings
🗓️ 22 July 2025
⏱️ 58 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This may be the most cutting-edge life extension technology you’ll hear about for decades. You’ll discover how mitochondrial transfusion, rejuvenation, and repair could reverse biological aging, supercharge your metabolism, and radically extend healthspan—all by upgrading the cellular energy systems that power every function in your body.
Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience:
https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR
Host Dave Asprey sits down with inventor and tech entrepreneur Tom Benson, founder of Mitrix. After launching three successful Silicon Valley companies, Benson shifted focus to one of the most promising frontiers in science: mitochondrial bioreactors designed to regrow your own autologous mitochondria. This isn’t theory—it’s a near-future anti-aging technology poised to transform functional medicine, personalized medicine, and the global conversation around aging reversal.
They explore how mitochondrial DNA mismatches affect aging, why mitochondria act like cellular AI cores, and how dysfunction in these ancient organelles contributes to neurodegenerative disease, metabolic decline, and cognitive disorders. You’ll learn how restoring mitochondria could enhance everything from stem cell therapy and nootropics to ketosis, fasting, cold therapy, and even sleep optimization.
You’ll Learn:
• Why mitochondria may be the real control centers of human biology
• How mitochondrial transfusion could revolutionize longevity and functional medicine
• The connection between mitochondrial dysfunction and Parkinson’s, autism, and ALS
• Why brain optimization and neuroplasticity depend on cellular energy
• How stem cell-derived mitochondria compare to nootropics and NAD
• What happens when mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA are mismatched
• Why early aging might start with your egg cells’ mitochondrial computing
• How mitochondrial health influences metabolism, ketosis, and fat storage
• Why stress, toxins, and pharmaceuticals like statins wreck mitochondrial function
• What it takes to scale mitochondrial bioreactors for widespread human use
• How mitochondrial hacking could improve immune function, sleep, and resilience
• Why the future of biohacking might begin with testing and upgrading your mitochondria
This episode is essential listening for anyone passionate about biohacking longevity, functional aging, mitochondrial testing, and next-gen human optimization.
Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade is the top podcast for people who want to take control of their biology, extend their longevity, and optimize every system in the body and mind. Each episode features cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, hacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.
Episodes are released every Tuesday and Thursday, where Dave asks the questions no one else dares, and brings you real tools to become more resilient, aware, and high performing.
Thank you to our sponsors!
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Resources:
• Mitrix Website: https://www.mitrix.bio/
• Dave Asprey’s Website: https://daveasprey.com
• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com/DAVE15
• Dave Asprey’s BEYOND Conference: https://beyondconference.com
• Dave Asprey’s New Book – Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated
• Upgrade Collective: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com
• Upgrade Labs: https://upgradelabs.com
• 40 Years of Zen: https://40yearsofzen.com
Timestamps:
• 00:00 Trailer
• 01:42 Intro
• 04:33 Mitochondrial DNA & Performance
• 08:49 Challenges in Mitochondrial Therapy
• 13:31 Future Applications
• 19:07 Mitochondria & Longevity
• 20:19 Traditional Medicine
• 28:50 Space Exploration
• 29:35 Human Fragility
• 30:19 Aging Revisited
• 32:52 Experimental Research
• 36:04 Ethics & Risks
• 41:24 Mental Health Links
• 46:28 Treatment Breakthroughs
• 51:01 Personal Longevity Hacks
• 54:30 Wrap-Up & Contact
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | One of the people on our board of directors is a former astronaut. |
| 0:02.9 | We've got a whole idea of what's going to be needed for people going to Mars and people going to the moon. |
| 0:08.0 | There's a couple studies showing that a mismatch of mitochondrial DNA with nuclear DNA equals animals that don't thrive. |
| 0:14.5 | The way nature keeps us from aging too quickly in our mitochondria is just by giving us a ton of them in the beginning. |
| 0:20.3 | We have 500,000 copies of the mitochondrial DNA in each egg cell. |
| 0:25.6 | We're going to try to fix their mitochondria, grow a bunch of those, and then flush out their |
| 0:29.9 | bad ones and replace them with good ones. |
| 0:31.9 | Wow. |
| 0:32.6 | When you fix them, are you crispering them? |
| 0:35.3 | How do you do that? |
| 0:36.3 | This is Tom Benson, a molecular biologist who's been asking one bold question for over a decade. |
| 0:41.5 | What if we could take out your tired old mitochondria, give them an upgrade, and put them back in better than before? |
| 0:47.3 | From reversing disease to enhancing human potential, he's working at the edge of what's possible for science to ever accomplish. |
| 0:54.3 | If you want to be a good scare, you want the Eskimo mitochondria. If you want to be a really good |
| 0:58.3 | long-distance runner in the Olympics, then you want the Ethiopian mitochondria. If it's okay |
| 1:03.3 | to fix mitochondria that have some problems and reintroduce them, can I take my perfectly good |
| 1:09.1 | mitochondria, give them some superpowers and then introduce them back in? |
| 1:14.1 | You're listening to The Human Upgrade with Dave Asprey. |
| 1:20.3 | This is an episode that I am so excited to do for you. |
| 1:25.0 | And the reason is that I have fantasized about upgrading my mitochondria for 25 years. |
| 1:31.8 | It's been just a thing where I understand I have unusual biochemistry in my cells, and I understand how |
| 1:38.7 | mitochondrial networks work. I'm a network engineer by training. And Tom Benson, who's our guest today, |
... |
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