Skin Deep

Author: Derek Hallett 

Researchers lead the hunt for true “anti-aging” skin care 

Scientists at Keio University have discovered a new means to maintain skin health. By blocking the activity of rogue cells that damage our DNA, scientists are leading the way to developing revolutionary new skin care products. 

We’ve all seen the ads for “anti-aging” skin care. They promise to “make you look 10 years younger” or “eliminate wrinkles” but their actual effectiveness rarely lives up to expectations. However, new developments in our understanding of aging are getting researchers directly involved in creating anti-aging. Scientists studying aged cells in skin have found a treatment that goes more than skin deep to deal with the dysfunctional cells that cause skin to age.  

Skin naturally sags and weakens with age. Not only does this cause cosmetic issues it also substantially raises the risk of diseases such as cancer and dry cracked skin. Even young people are aware of the importance of healthy skin and many people engage in complex skin rituals to try and maintain their youth. 

Cellular betrayal 

However, these efforts are rarely rewarded to the degree we hope. This is because most skin damage is largely caused by a small set of malfunctioning cells referred to as senescent cells. This means that skin care and protection struggle to combat this damage because it comes from within the skin itself! These senescent cells are normal cells that have exited the normal cell cycle and instead spend their time excreting nasty chemicals that cause inflammation and weaken nearby functional cells.  

Scientists at Keio University in Japan have discovered the gene responsible for this cellular betrayal. This gene controls the production of those toxic chemicals that erode skin. The researchers found that by blocking the function of this gene they were able to keep skin cells healthy for longer. It was so effective they were even able to rejuvenate damaged skin cells. 

Half their age 

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of their work in how dramatic an effect it had on the skin of the mice test subjects they used. Mice that were treated had their skin health increased dramatically. The skin of mice treated with the strongest version of the treatment looked like the skin of mice half their age.  The researchers claim that their results could pave the way to the development of new drugs that could have skin looking young and health for longer. 

Unfortunately, this treatment likely won’t be coming to beauty store near you anytime soon. This treatment relies on genetic suppression techniques which simply are not safe or practical enough for human use yet. However, now that scientists understand these misbehaving cells and the signals they use to wreak havoc in the skin it is possible to develop new creams that live up to the promise current treatments make.