Anti-ageing actives and technologies behind them

For consumers, this comes in the form of apps which allow the user to ‘try on’ virtual makeup looks or hair styles by using facial mapping technology1 as well as diagnostic tools, which give personalised skin care recommendations based on the condition of and changes in the user’s skin.2,3 For raw material suppliers, however, new technologies are valuable tools in identifying, extracting and studying new active materials. 

At the beginning of development, computational analysis can be used to analyse biological extracts, and to identify whether they have any potential efficacy in the skin. In the case of Sirtalice (INCI: Bacillus Ferment), computational analysis identified a potential activity on the sirtuin-3 gene, which would increase cellular energy.  This process can also be used to analyse and identify the properties of synthetic compounds. By using bioinformatics analysis in conjunction with in silicomodelling techniques, the molecular structure of novel peptides, such as Munapsys (INCI: Acetyl Hexapeptide-1), can be computationally designed based on the potential mechanisms identified. 

Advances in genetic technologies are also implemented in protein production, by inducing transient expression of the desired protein in plants which produces safer, more efficacious proteins than similar products that use alternative production methods. Natural materials can also benefit from advances in biotechnology, such as enzymatic enrichment of extracts to improve their efficacy.