Gene Genius – Gene Therapy Meets Skincare
Posted: Tuesday 15 June 2010 05:32pm
Gene therapy has made important medical advances in less than 20 years, moving rapidly from concept to technology development and laboratory research, to clinical trials for a variety of diseases and genetic disorders.
But over the past decade, gene therapy (aka genomic technology, gene science and dynamic cosmetology, for the purposes of cosmetic research) has also been used to study and counteract the most superficial and obvious sign of the body’s deterioration – skin ageing.
The result of scientists’ endeavours is a new generation of scientific skincare that doesn’t merely hydrate and smooth but retexturises the skin, plumping out lines and wrinkles from within and restoring a radiant, more youthful complexion.
The most recent addition is the much-anticipated launch of Youth Code, by L’Oréal Paris, the result of 10 years’ collaboration between L’Oréal Laboratories and the Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris.
For many years cosmetology addressed only the direct reaction of cosmetics on the skin, but dynamic cosmetology determines how the genes in our cells respond to aggressors (such as UV exposure, stress, climactic changes, pollution, alcohol, cigarette smoke) over time.
Using a tool called a gene chip, dynamic cosmetology detects the differences in gene behaviour in old and young skin.
In terms of cosmetics, it has been determined that certain genes, called skin repair genes, become less active with age. Youthful skin produces proteins faster than older skin. By identifying the genes that produce these proteins and how they work, scientists can formulate ingredients to influence those genes and use them in youth-enhancing and restoring formulas – to help prevent sun damage and minimise wrinkles, for instance.
Youth Code has two key such ingredients:
* Patented Pro-Gen technology, which acts on the expression of skin repair genes and improves the capacity to retain moisture. Indeed, help restore the skin’s natural “youth code”.
* Adenosine, a component of DNA which has been identified as a powerful anti-wrinkle ingredient.
“By studying gene expression and the way genes respond to aggressions via dynamic cosmetology”, says Professor Louis Dubertret, of the Saint-Louis Hospital, “we will be able to adapt the science of cosmetology to the need of the future, for every skin type, every lifestyle and every type of environment.”