The New Science Of Looking Young

By Colette Bouchez

Decoding the human genome was a heady project by any standards –and certainly not intended for the front page of a beauty magazine.

But if researchers at Proctor and Gamble (P&G) are right, gene sequencing – the act of decoding how our genetic framework functions - may in fact be the ticket to finding the skin care ingredients that make old skin look and act like young again.

"Such a genomics approach is one of the unexpected benefits from the human genome project", P & G scientist Rosemarie Osborne recently told Cosmetics Design.

More specifically, P&G scientists say that by better understanding how skin ages on a molecular level, the easier it will be to uncover what it will take, on an ingredient level , to intervene with the process, and either stop or reverse it.

The Genetic Search for Younger Skin

The process of applying sophisticated genetic research to skin care began at P&G roughly ten years ago. At the time they used the technology to test various skin care ingredients to see how they reacted, on a molecular level, and ultimately how that reaction impacts the way skin looks and feels.

More specifically, they focused on the way skin metabolizes lipids –compounds like essential fatty acids which play a major role in keeping skin healthy and young. Of greatest interest: How that metabolic process changes with both age, and environmental factors such as sun exposure.

What they found: Specific lipids, including ceramides, cholesterol and fatty acids - all essential to skin health - decrease as skin ages, both naturally and via sun exposure. This in turn appears to reduce the ability of aging skin to repair itself, the way skin does naturally when we are young.

The next step in the process was finding ingredients that could intervene in that declining process. In short, find the compounds that, on a genetic level, tell "old skin" to act young again, stepping up lipid production and the repair process that follows.

Anti Aging Skin: The New Science

Fast forward a decade and the research comes full circle with the introduction of Hexamidine, the ingredient that P & G claims was identified as the compound that, along with niacin amide
( vitamin B 3) yielded an increase in the gene expression linked to lipid production and use in skin. Both ingredients are found in P&G’s Olay line of Pro X-L skin care products.

"The tissue engineered models act as a sort of pre screen to a clinical trial when the effect of the compound can be seen in vivo," said Osborne.

While P&G might have been the first to harness the power of gene sequencing in skin care, they are hardly alone in the lab. L’Oreal SA claims to use genetic analysis to test the impact of proteins on the skin, while Estee Lauder boasts they use gene-expression technology as well.

At the same time, when it comes to the everyday application of human genome research, Alan Guttmacher, acting of the National Genome Research Institute recently told the Wall Street Journal "Marketing tends to be ahead of science".

That said, P&G is backing up their claims with peer reviewed science. In the past decade their scientists have published over 40 medical papers in prestigious scientific journals concerning not only aging skin, but also the genetic underpinnings linked to dandruff and gingivitis.

You might also be interested in reading:

Hope or Hype? Can You Really Look Younger?

Beauty Buyer Beware: Avoid Anti Aging Skin Care Scams

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