Wired Science
"The peptide gold rush."
Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents. Accessed on 21 September 2026, 2302 UTC.
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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencemonitor.blogspot.com).
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Bodegas are the land of plenty. You’ve got your soda and candy, your rolling papers and potato chips, and of course your bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll. (Pro tip: add hash browns to level up.) And now you’ve also got your chance to grab injectable peptides. At least, that’s how they’re being labeled. We picked up four vials of peptides and tested them. The analyses revealed that there were low levels of heavy metals and endotoxins, meaning they likely weren’t actively harmful. Good! Unfortunately, the testing also revealed that they weren’t peptides. It’s possible they were mislabeled or mishandled, or some other mistake was made along the way from the lab to the counter. But what is clear is that ponying up $376.20 for peptides at a bodega with the hope of settling your gut, healing faster, or improving your libido is probably not the best use of your hard-earned money. The tests get at one of the problems with the peptide industry writ large. There’s little federal oversight, but there’s a groundswell of interest in peptides—short chains of amino acids that people from Joe Rogan to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. say have a lot of benefits despite minimal research backing up some of those claims. That’s created conditions for little-known vendors to thrive. To wit: The company behind the bodega peptides, INDR Labs, didn’t respond to our request for comment, and shortly after we reached out, its website began requiring login credentials. You can read our full story about how we tested them and what it says about the peptide gold rush. Also on my radar: The continuing saga over math and AI. We spoke with mathematicians who feel threatened by AI and worried that the field is slipping beyond human comprehension—but they also can’t stop using AI because it’s such a game changer for their work. We’ll have more about why mathematicians love hard problems and what their field shares in common with the arts. Stay tuned! |
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THIS WEEK’S PICKS |
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Those Viral Bodega Peptides Aren’t Actually Peptides By Sophie Kleeman and Kate Knibbs WIRED tested samples of four types of peptides. The results show how lightly regulated the industry is, even as popularity surges. | |
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