Silicon Valley’s biohacking obsession with poorly-studied chemical substances has reached its logical endpoint: they’re now buying peptides on Temu.
To understand why that matters, it helps to know a little about peptides: short chains of amino acids that act as signalers, telling our cells what to do.
Though many peptides occur naturally in our bodies, others do not. As consumables, they’re sold based on the makeup of the amino acid chain, variations of which are said to offer different boosts to cellular functions, like muscle growth, tissue repair, and mental cognition. (GLP-1s, the popular weight-loss medications sold under brand names like Wegovy and Zepbound, are a perfect example of synthetic peptides — albeit ones that have been rigorously studied in human patients.)
The drugs have exploded in popularity in San Francisco over recent months, where tech bros take various DIY cocktails as pills, creams or injections to optimize their bodies — a type of biohacking in keeping with the optimization-obsessed startup ecosystem.
From those bespoke circles of Silicon Valley health nuts, their inclusion on the notoriously cheap ecommerce site Temu — best known for labor issues and selling dirt-cheap goods, like electronics that catch fire — signals that the little vials are hitting the mainstream in a major, and potentially disastrous, way.
A quick search for “peptides” on Temu immediately turned up a smorgasbord of peptide products at bottom-barrel prices. For just $12, you could get three bottles of what’s supposedly BPC-157, a peptide derived from human stomach bile sold as a healing cure-all. Or you could pay just $4.14 to snag a 12-pack of a vague “oligopeptide” marketed as a skin-firming agent.
As with many goods on Temu, it’s hazy exactly what you’re getting and how you’re supposed to use it. Though many of the products appear to be pills, topical creams or eye drops, others are pictured as ampoules you could inject with a needle. (Over on Reddit, biohackers have discussed injecting peptides bought on Temu.)
As to whether the products actually contain the peptides they claim, it feels like a gamble. The site lists many products labeled as GLP-1s, for instance, that list ingredients other than actual GLP-1s.
It all goes to underscore the legal gray area governing peptides in the US. According to the New York Times, Americans are increasingly sourcing peptides directly from chemical manufacturers in China. When the vials arrive, they’re winkingly marked “for research use only.” The peptide is usually shipped as a powder, which is mixed with water before being injected directly or consumed through an IV.
The whole ecosystem is making it easier than ever for impressionable people to jab themselves full of strange concoctions in order to hop on the peptide bandwagon.
“Our average customer is closer to a Starbucks barista,” one San Francisco-based supplier of Chinese peptides told the NYT. “But the techies were the first on this because of the willingness to take ridiculous risks.”
After we reached out with questions, a spokesperson emphasized that Temu is a “third-party marketplace” for independent sellers to offer products, “subject to platform rules and controls.”
“The platform prohibits the sale of products containing peptides listed as bulk drug substances by the US FDA, products making therapeutic or medical claims without proper authorization, and sterile needles or syringes intended for injection,” the spokesperson continued. “Listings that violate these policies are removed upon identification, including through pre-listing screening, proactive monitoring, and reports.”
Soon after we approached Temu for comment on the peptides, many listings featuring glass vials and syringes disappeared from the search. A query for “peptides” or specific variants like “GLP-1s” now only returns listings for topical creams and ointments.
More on biohacking: Jeffrey Epstein Had a Bizarre Obsession With “Improving” Human DNA, and He Was Emailing With Top Scientists About It
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