Genetics and Cosmetics?

The Human Genome Project was an impressive accomplishment in the history of human existence. No other creature on the planet could have done what we did, essentially translating the language of life into something we could understand and recreate. In my estimation, this accomplishment will be viewed through the lens of history as one of the greatest accomplishments of all time.

But for all its impressiveness, the mapping of our genome is only the start. It’s the tip of the iceberg in terms of what we can do with the information. There will be advances in medicine, human longevity, controlling disease, creating new organs, wiping out inherited diseases, and more.

Cosmetic Genetics

I wasn’t surprised when I read about DNA Electronics and their attempt to use gene sequencing to provide customers superior cosmetics.

The idea is that a consumer sends in their saliva and the company uses its advanced technology to sequence a portion of their genetic code. This information is then used “to map how ingredients in cosmetics will match with an individual’s genetic profile.”

Huh?

I really have no idea what this means. Will they somehow use the information to figure out what ingredients will cause sensitization? Or will this be some kind of analysis that tells you what products you should use?

Either way, I think the cart is coming way before the horse. As far as I know, even if you had an exact sequence of someone’s genes, that wouldn’t help you much for coming up with more effective cosmetics. And if there were tests that could simply look at a human gene sequence to determine whether an ingredient would cause problems for someone, there wouldn’t be continued use of animal tests in cosmetic ingredient evaluations.

This sounds like a lot of empty marketing fluff to me. Sure, the technology to sequence your genes is cool but I don’t see this leading to improved cosmetics any time soon.

What do you think?

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