© PKM1/ISTOCKPHOTO.COMThe trendy look for this season’s cosmetics lab is high-tech instruments and tools. Researchers are using gene microarrays to understand what makes young skin taut and even-toned, and to find out why older epidermis sags, wrinkles, or develops spots. They can then hunt for molecules that activate those same genes in aging or sun-damaged skin. A number of skin-care lines, such as Olay products, already contain ingredients based on microarray work.
Another way makeup makers develop new products is to examine the metabolism of skin cells. A healthy cell, with active mitochondria, is a comely cell. Old cells with fewer or malfunctioning mitochondria look aged. Modern devices can infer metabolic rate based on oxygen consumption and the acidic by-products released by cell cultures into the media in which the cells are grown.
Cultured skin is crucial to in vitro studies of personal-care products. One of the best mimics for the human integument is, not surprisingly, made of human skin. Epidermal cells from elective surgery, dissociated and reconstituted, are common in cosmetics labs where scientists daub on new compounds and test the safety of different formulations.
In fact, these days, product safety testing often takes place in ...
