Core Memory Welcome To The Chinese Peptide Underground - EP 52 Jasmine Sun
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Jan 14, 2026 
Jasmine Sun, a tech and culture reporter known for her New York Times exploration of Chinese peptides, dives deep into the trendy world of biohacking. She explains what peptides are and their growing popularity, particularly in Silicon Valley. Jasmine shares insights on the gray market for these substances and the 'Wolverine' stack phenomenon. Health risks, DIY mixing, and regional variations in peptide use spark thoughtful debate, along with their broader implications in the biotech landscape and emerging trends in self-injected wellness.
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Peptides Explained And Why GLP-1 Sparked Interest
- Peptides are short proteins that can be bioactive and many are naturally occurring like insulin and GLP-1.
- The GLP-1 boom normalized self-injection and spurred demand for other experimental, gray-market peptides.
Don't Trust Gray-Market Quality Claims
- Avoid assuming gray-market peptides meet pharmaceutical manufacturing standards like CGMP.
- Understand suppliers may mislabel products and contamination or quality is often unknown.
Peptide Demo At A Biotech 'Vertical Village'
- Kelly Robison described a peptide demo at Frontier Tower with LEDs, crystals, vials, and on-site mixing and injections.
- She watched someone draw their own blood and another person get injected with BPC-157 live during the event.