Bryan Johnson autoimmune gastritis: Millionaire who wants to live forever unveils 'Bryan in a dish' plan to cure disease making his stomach 'eat itself'

Biohacker and entrepreneur Bryan Johnson has revealed an ambitious research plan to try to cure his autoimmune gastritis, describing it as an approach that, according to his team, has never before been attempted for an autoimmune disease.

In a post on X, Johnson said he was diagnosed with autoimmune gastritis (AIG) in May after doctors identified the condition through a stomach tissue biopsy. He explained that the disease causes the immune system to mistakenly attack the stomach lining, reducing the body's ability to absorb nutrients such as iron and vitamin B12 and potentially increasing the risk of stomach cancer over time.

Johnson believes the condition may have begun decades ago, linking it to his diagnosis of hypothyroidism at the age of 21. He added that years of focusing on his health may have prevented the disease from progressing further, while noting that many people with AIG remain undiagnosed because the condition often develops without obvious symptoms.


Rejecting what he described as the current standard approach to treatment, Johnson outlined a five-step strategy aimed at understanding and eventually stopping the autoimmune attack.

The first step involves accurately diagnosing the disease. Johnson said autoimmune gastritis is frequently missed because early signs, including low iron and vitamin B12 levels, may not be accompanied by visible anaemia. He added that routine colonoscopies cannot detect the condition because they examine the lower digestive tract rather than the stomach, and even stomach biopsies may miss affected areas if tissue samples are not taken from the right locations.



The second phase focuses on mapping his immune system. Johnson said he recently underwent a blood test that will sequence one million individual immune cells to identify the specific T-cells responsible for attacking his stomach. According to him, this detailed immune mapping is intended to pinpoint the "rogue" immune cells driving the disease and guide future treatment options.

To confirm the findings, Johnson plans to undergo another stomach biopsy to obtain live tissue samples. He said the live cells will allow researchers to match the immune cell sequencing data with the T-cells actively causing damage inside the stomach.

Johnson also plans to develop an early warning system to monitor the disease. Under the proposed protocol, he will undergo blood tests every two weeks, with the results combined with data from wearable devices to identify flare-ups that may occur before noticeable symptoms appear.

Another key part of the project involves preserving a large sample of his immune cells through cryopreservation. Johnson said these cells will be used to recreate a laboratory model of his immune system — described as a "Bryan in a dish" — enabling researchers to test experimental drugs and therapies on his own cells before they are used in his body. He said the preserved cells could also serve as a resource for future regenerative therapies.

The final stage of the plan aims to develop highly targeted treatments that eliminate only the harmful immune cells while leaving healthy immune function intact. Johnson said any therapy would first be tested using computer models of his biology and then on his preserved immune cells before being considered for use in his body.

He outlined four possible therapeutic approaches: restoring the immune system's natural regulatory mechanisms, retraining the harmful immune cells to stop attacking the stomach, designing precision molecules to deactivate the rogue cells, or engineering immune cells capable of identifying and eliminating the harmful T-cells.

While Johnson described the project as unprecedented, the proposed therapies remain experimental, and it is not yet known whether the approach will successfully treat or cure autoimmune gastritis. His plan represents an attempt to apply advanced immune profiling and precision medicine techniques to an autoimmune disorder for which no established cure currently exists.