Grow Old, but Do It Yourself

Abstract Ageing-related biological claims circulate through self-tracking platforms, commercial biomarkers, citizen-science projects and community laboratories. Access to information or instruments does not settle who can evaluate a claim, decide what it warrants or secure an institutional response. Ethical biohacking describes a conditional orientation towards self- and community-directed biological inquiry, assessed through evidential adequacy, proportionate safeguards, meaningful refusal and the social distribution of responsibility. Personal science, health literacy, capability theory and research on extra-institutional biology distinguish inquiry competence, epistemic control and situated health agency. The last concerns practical opportunities to question, use or reject health-related knowledge under specific material and institutional conditions. Published studies of community laboratories and collective biosafety governance, considered alongside publicly documented resource-intensive longevity practices, disclose unequal access to expertise, institutional authority and economic power. Optimisation drift names a defeasible risk when measurement generates recurring obligations while workable conditions for stopping weaken. Responsible participation requires answerable institutions alongside individual competence, particularly when ageing-related classifications influence care or valued opportunities. Whether these configurations improve health, or how prevalent they are, remains empirically undetermined.