Level 2 · BiohackingBiohacking UpgradesThe Kaufmann Protocol — matching rated compounds to each root cause of aging, plus exosomes and regenerative therapies.
The Bridge · PreventionPreventionTesting what can be tested — AGEs, sirtuins, interleukins — and acting long before decline sets in.
Level 1 · Longevity BasicsLongevity BasicsThe lowest-hanging fruit first — how you move, sleep and feel is where any honest protocol begins.
Live Beyond · A Great Mind on the Quest
Sandra Kaufmann
Physician, cell biologist & author of "The Kaufmann Protocol" The seven tenets of aging · Miami
Sandra Kaufmann began as a cell biologist, became a physician, and has spent twenty-five years as a pediatric anesthesiologist — a career built on knowing exactly how molecules move through the human body. Then she turned all of it on aging.
"I'm absolutely obsessed with the idea of biohacking," she told us, "because I love the idea of manipulating age and disease. To me, it's the greatest puzzle ever invented."
Her answer to that puzzle is The Kaufmann Protocol. She sorts aging into seven tenets — root categories such as DNA alterations, each with its own subcategories — then rates more than fifty-five compounds and medications for how well each addresses them. The logic is unsentimental: no single substance covers every reason you age, so you need enough different things to cover all of them, starting with the lowest-hanging fruit.
Alongside the protocol she works with exosomes — the signalling vesicles she calls "liquid gold" — and regenerative therapies, and she's candid that some of longevity can be measured and some of it simply comes down to asking how a person actually feels.
The Kaufmann ProtocolSeven tenets of aging55+ agents ratedExosomes & regenerative therapy
Miami · Florida
Where we met
Miami — and the trifecta
We met Sandy in Miami, where she took us through her protocol from the inside out — and then, the next day, put Marek through what she calls the trifecta: exosomes, methylene blue and a glutathione chaser. It was one of the most hands-on days of the whole quest. We also sat down with her daughter Scout Kaufmann, which turned the visit into something more interesting than a protocol: a chance to hear what it is actually like to grow up inside one, from the generation who will live with the results longest.
Miami
Florida
A cell biologist turned physician, explaining how she rates every compound she recommends.
Seven tenets
Her framework
Aging sorted into root causes — then matched, category by category, with rated agents.
Scout
Her daughter
We interviewed Scout too — the next generation, raised around the protocol.
The trifecta
In the park, after
Exosomes, methylene blue and glutathione — her once-a-month reset, tried first-hand.
"There's no way one or two things is going to defeat aging. You have to take enough different things to cover all of the different reasons that you're aging."
— Sandra Kaufmann, in Miami
On the quest
A morning in Miami
In the parkTalking protocols in MiamiScoutSandy’s daughter joined us
In her words
The greatest puzzle
"I'm absolutely obsessed with biohacking — I love the idea of manipulating age and disease. To me, it's the greatest puzzle ever invented."
Sandra Kaufmann · Miami
There's no reason to believe any one substance is going to address every reason that you age.
Sandra Kaufmann
Exosomes are magical little gold potions. They're liquid gold — signals telling your cells to regenerate.
Sandra Kaufmann
Some questions can be answered by testing. Some are just about how people actually feel.
Sandra Kaufmann
You start with the lowest-hanging fruit — and then it becomes more esoteric as you move along.
Sandra Kaufmann
In his own words
Straight from the interview
From our days with Sandy in Miami — how she maps the causes of aging, what she actually uses, and how she decides whether it's working.
Her framework: seven tenets
She sorts aging into seven root categories — DNA alterations, and so on — each with its own subcategories. Then she rates compounds against them, so a protocol can be built to cover every cause rather than one fashionable one.
"You have to take enough different things to cover all the different reasons that you're aging."
Miami · from the interview
Her tools: exosomes & the trifecta
Exosomes carry signals telling cells to regenerate; she uses them systemically and locally — tendons, knees, skin. Paired with methylene blue and a glutathione chaser, it's her monthly reset.
"Exosomes are magical little gold potions — they're liquid gold."
Miami · from the interview
How she measures it
Some of it is bloodwork — AGEs, sirtuins, interleukins. But much of it, she says plainly, is asking how active you are, how your joints feel, how you're sleeping. Both halves matter.
"It's a combination of actual tests — and a lot of how people actually feel."
The video interview is coming. Recorded interviews go live after the launch of the film & series Live Beyond.
Selected passages from our conversations with Sandra Kaufmann — in Miami. Lightly edited for readability.
On how she got here
Sandra Kaufmann"All of it. I was a cell biologist. I became a physician. I'm an anesthesiologist — a pediatric anesthesiologist. But I am absolutely obsessed with the idea of biohacking, because I love the idea of manipulating age and disease. To me, it's the greatest puzzle ever invented."
On the seven tenets
Sandra Kaufmann"You age in many different categories. I go by what I call the seven tenets of aging — the big reasons you age — and each has subcategories. Tenet one would be DNA alterations: epigenetic changes, telomere issues, the actual structure of DNA. There's no reason to believe any one substance addresses every reason you age. So I rated fifty-five-plus agents — over-the-counter and actual medications — for what they do in each category and how well. You take enough different things to cover all the reasons you're aging, starting with the lowest-hanging fruit."
On testing versus feeling
Sandra Kaufmann"My answer will sound like a stereotypical doctor: some questions can be answered by testing, and some are more about how people feel. We can test AGE loads, sirtuins, some interleukins. But some things we simply cannot test. So I ask people: how active are you? Does your back hurt any more? How are your joints? How are you sleeping? It's a combination of actual tests and a lot of how people actually feel."
On exosomes
Sandra Kaufmann"Exosomes are wonderful little vesicles — they come from all cells, and the ones we want come mostly from fetal stem cells. Talk about magical: they're magical little gold potions. Liquid gold. They carry signalling messages to your cells telling them to regenerate, to fix things, to be more youthful. People notice more energy, better cognition, better workouts, better sleep — usually within twenty-four to forty-eight hours."
On the trifecta
Sandra Kaufmann"So you got what I call the trifecta — and I think you should have the trifecta once a month. You had exosomes, you had some methylene blue, and you had what I call a glutathione chaser. Methylene blue turns out to be a very potent free-radical scavenger, and people notice it really helps cognitive function. The glutathione once a month gives you a nice big bolus — it helps your mitochondria without messing with your own feedback loops."
More passages from the full interview will be published here.
Continue the quest
More minds on the quest
Sandy works at the Biohacking Upgrades level of the Longevity Map — building protocols that cover every cause of aging. Here are others on the quest, and the full cast of 100+.
