The genomic revolution

For over 10 years, L'Oréal has turned its efforts to the study of the way genes are expressed in the skin and hair, by acquiring tools called "omics". These techniques, which combine molecular biology, computer technology and robotics, made it possible in 2001 to decode the human genome (all the information in the genetic code). L'Oréal's researchers have applied these techniques to the aging of the skin and hair, by establishing veritable catalogs of cellular signatures that are characteristic of cells, their conditions and their responses to different kinds of stress.

Each skin has its own molecular signature

In collaboration with the Saint Louis Hospital in Paris and the CHUL in Laval, Quebec, L'Oréal's researchers made a number of interesting discoveries related to the genetic expression of different skin cells. They were able to show that molecular signatures exist (proteins that are characteristic of young skin and of aging skin) and they selected active ingredients capable of providing aging skin with the protein content signature of younger skin. Another observation: in cases of mechanical aggression, the activity of the genes in younger and older skin is similar, but while it takes 5 hours for younger skin to "repair", it takes 30 hours for older skin to do so! Thus, aging is in particularly a result of accumulated aggressions that have not been adequately repaired. This work resulted in two innovations: the serum Génifique by Lancôme, launched in 2009, followed by Code Jeunesse by L'Oréal Paris in 2010.

Close

Text transcription of the video

Beautéomique

Beauty and cosmetics revolve around one organ: the skin. For more than thirty years, L’Oréal has been committed to the in-depth study of the skin through a multidisciplinary approach that brings together biological, in vitro and clinical studies. Until now, the study of how skin ages relied on biophysical and morphological methods. But no more. Tissue is composed of cells that, at the center of chromosomes, host some 25 to 30 thousand genes identified in humans. Each gene is directly in charge of a biological property.

Using the tools of molecular biology, L’Oréal researchers have been able to penetrate deep inside cells, obtaining the keys to understanding their workings and make-up. 

With age, it is not our genes that get older, since genetic material does not age. Rather, it is the dermis and epidermis that gradually deteriorate. But why? Slow cell renewal? Local inflammation? A reduced ability for regeneration? Different cases yield different answers, which encourage the development of new active ingredients designed to give skin back its youthful appearance.

First and foremost, transcriptomic studies have shown that the surface of the epidermis has a double response to exfoliation of both young and old skin.

In older subjects, 382 genes modified their expression level within the first 72 hours of epidermal repair; in younger subjects, this was true for 370 genes. Therefore, 198 genes are specific to older skin while 186 are specific to younger skin. Additionally, older skin repairs itself more slowly than younger skin.