Procter & Gamble this week unveiled its pioneering efforts in the breakthrough field of "Omics" that is set to solve "the molecular puzzles of beauty and leapfrog innovations in this space," according to a company press release.
Twenty-one years after the start of the Human Genome Project in 1990, the science of genomics has come of age and led to a new era of Omics-based research. This approach brings together genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to map the entire biological system, illuminating new pathways to better skin and hair science for years to come.
While genomics has dominated the beauty and grooming discussion in recent years, new advances in genome sequencing and other Omics tools are enabling biologists to shift their attention from studying individual parts within a particular biological system to "mapping" the entire system. From the genome to the proteome to the metabolome — together representing the total approach of ‘systems’ biology.
Our complex human biology means there are more than 20,000 genes, as many as a million proteins and thousands of metabolites underlying our fundamental skin and hair processes. Where once scientists could only measure one gene or protein at a time, the latest Omics tools now allow us to monitor 9.4 million gene changes and hundreds of protein expression changes or metabolites in a single experiment with tools like:
* Genomics the study of gene activity or ‘expression’ and describes how genes function, interact with one another and respond to environmental stimuli;
* Proteomics which studies proteins and the way they change as a result of gene activity; and,
* Metabolomics which studies how changes in genes and proteins impact biochemical processes within the cell.
But the secret to dramatically accelerating data and insights in skin and hair biology lies in bringing these tools and techniques together. This allows scientists to open up insights into the molecular pathways associated with common concerns in skin and hair biology, and ultimately create innovative new products that better address the needs of men and women.
More.
[Source: Proctor & Gamble]
