Aaron Traywick, the man who famously injected himself with a proposed herpes vaccine in front of an audience, has been found dead.
Police have told Buzzfeed the CEO of Ascendance Biomedical, who reportedly didn't have any medical degree, was discovered at a spa in Northwest Washington DC but authorities don't suspect any foul play in the death.
The 28-year-old's colleague, Tristan Roberts, says the body was found in in a sensory deprivation tank.
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Tristan has released a statement saying: "Aaron was a passionate visionary. He seemingly never tired as he brought people together to work on some of the most imposing challenges facing humanity.
"While many in the biohacking scene disagreed with his methods, none of them doubted his intentions. He sought nothing short of a revolution in biomedicine; the democratization of science and the opening of the flood gates for global healing."
Traywick garnered headlines from around the world when he appeared on stage at the BodyHacking Con in Austin, Texas in February, dropped his pants in front of everyone, and injected himself with what he said was a vaccine for herpes.
It's worth noting that the injectable wasn't tested beforehand and wasn't FDA approved.
"I do what has to be done for the science to move forward and for other people to feel free enough to be able to seek interventions for themselves," he told Buzzfeed after the event.
But the stunt was criticised by some within the biohacking community.
Josiah Zayner, told Gizmodo: "The idea that any scientist, biohacker or not, has created a cure for a disease with no testing and no data is more ridiculous than believing jet fuel melts steel beams."
Ascendance Biomedical company was ambitious in its hopes and was looking at producing treatments for HIV - another vaccine that Traywick injected into himself. His company was supposed to act as a big middle finger to the big Pharma companies who have yet to find cures for herpes or HIV.
But according to Vice, Traywick had distanced himself from his company colleagues in recent weeks over internal disputes.
Andreas Stuermer told the news site: "We all lost touch with him. It was radio silence. It was more than four weeks ago.
"The future is difficult to predict. He was willing to go where lots of people were afraid to go. I don't have the perfect answer to this, but stuff will go on."
His body has been taken for an autopsy so that a cause of death can be determined.
Featured Image Credit: RuptlyTopics: America, News, Medicine