[Newsletter] Reprogramming Life: Epigenetics, the Augmented Brain, and Lessons from the Body
Two major scientific breakthroughs. A 72-hour fast versus SIBO. This April marks a turning point.
SCIENCE · EPIGENETICS & CELLULAR REPROGRAMMING Restoring Vision — From Mouse to Human: Sinclair Reaches the Clinical Stage
Research published by Dr. David Sinclair’s lab (Harvard Medical School) in Nature (2020) demonstrated that partial epigenetic reprogramming could restore visual function in aged mice. The study targeted retinal ganglion cells — non-regenerative neurons — across two models: induced glaucoma and natural aging.
The central hypothesis: aging is not an irreversible corruption of DNA, but a loss of epigenetic information — potentially recoverable. And for the first time, this hypothesis is being tested in humans.
SCIENCE · BRAIN-MACHINE INTERFACE · CHINA, MARCH 2026 Neuracle NeuCyber-I: First Invasive BCI Approved Outside the United States
In March 2026, China’s NMPA (National Medical Products Administration) granted market authorization to Neuracle Medical Technology for its NeuCyber-I system — the first invasive brain-computer interface (BCI) commercially approved outside the United States.
The clinical indication targets patients with partial paralysis of spinal cord origin.
Compared to Neuralink’s N1 (intracortical electrodes, single-neuron resolution, launched by Elon Musk), Neuracle’s ECoG approach offers lower invasiveness and better chronic tolerability — at the cost of lower spatial resolution. Both paradigms now coexist as two distinct points on the invasiveness/performance trade-off curve.
Voluntary grasping of objects in partially tetraplegic patients
Signal-to-action latency under 200ms in routine use
Signal stability maintained over 12 months in trials
Regulatory context: The NMPA authorization covers a strictly defined indication. Commercial access outside China will require separate FDA and EMA submissions. Long-term data on cortical inflammatory response remain to be published in peer-reviewed journals.
We are no longer optimizing the human body. We are entering its reprogramming.
JOURNAL · N=1 EXPERIMENT My 72-Hour Fast: Discipline, Hypoglycemia, and the Reality of the Body
I am someone who is always hungry, and who deeply loves eating. This fast was not about weight loss or mental clarity. It had a specific reason: attempting to improve a SIBO that has followed me since childhood, after exhausting antibiotics, herbs (berberine, ginger, Iberogast), supplements, and advanced protocols — without lasting results.
0 → 18H Simple phase. Body in transition mode, no notable difficulty.
18 → 24H Real difficulties: insomnia, waking in the night with hunger, feeling cold, blood sugar dropping to around 60 mg/dL. Nothing clinically alarming — but a very concrete physical reality.
24 → 26H I’m hungry. I understand that for some people this is easier, but honestly — I’m seeing chickens everywhere!
26H → 36H Sleep was very hard to come by because I was hungry despite meditating — it was rough. Woke up at 2am starving. This is normal for me as I deal with nocturnal hypoglycemia that I usually manage with chromium at night, but I hadn’t taken any supplements.
36H → 48H Multiple very low glucose alerts, down to 50 mg/dL. My physician friends were telling me it was impossible to continue, especially since I was about to leave on a long transatlantic trip with all its temptations and physical stress. I was a bit lethargic and above all, freezing cold. Really cold. I turned the heat on. I really hope this torture produces results. I ran out of cortisol strips but it must be through the roof. They’re arriving in a few hours so I can continue tracking. Urine analysis: significant ketones in urine (logical).
48H → 60H On the plane, I slept — he who sleeps, dines :) Woke up to the smell of pastries and other temptations… Resist, prove that you exist!
60H → 72H… 80H Racing through airports to make my connection, arriving in Paris at midnight… I’ll eat tomorrow morning… so the fast ended up lasting longer than planned.
VERDICT No immediate response. I didn’t get the so-called mental clarity everyone talks about. It was actually worse — I made crazy mistakes like forgetting all my electronics when leaving for a 3-month trip, giving the wrong address to Uber, etc.
Well… I’m lying… because… yes, one immediate result: ALMOST NO SYMPTOMS. But a fundamental reminder: the body doesn’t always respond the way you expect, and simple solutions are rarely sufficient on their own.
I’m thinking of repeating 36-hour fasts, as those felt less cortisol-damaging. You have to listen to your body — push yourself, yes, but not to the point where cortisol explodes. My cortisol strips were unambiguous: prolonged fasting is not for me.
And for those who say “yes, but you need to do it in a calm setting, away from everything”… honestly, that’s just not my thing :) — I don’t have many disconnected moments, and when I do, I’d rather be scuba diving in Bora Bora than on a farm somewhere not eating, lol. Besides, doing this long fast while traveling actually helped — it kept my mind occupied. Staying home would have made it much harder.
The Real Question Is No Longer “How to Live Longer”
Between scientific breakthroughs and personal experiments, one thing becomes clear: longevity is entering a new phase. More technological. More complex. And potentially more disorienting.
The real question is no longer simply: How do we live longer? But: How do we navigate intelligently what is coming?
And you — are you ready for this transformation?
What do you think of these advances? Are we collectively ready for this kind of mutation of life itself? Have you ever fasted more than 24 hours? If so, how long — and what were the effects? What do you think of Professor Sinclair’s discoveries and the first brain “prosthetic”?
Let’s keep going! Forza!
Valérie Orsoni
Biohacker since 1998 | Longevity Expert
Instagram : @valerieorsoni
My fave brands + super promo codes here ==> ValerieOrsoni.com
My made-in-the-usa, clean, no fillers supplement line ==> ZellNova
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