Biotechnology - Enhancing growth for Natural Cosmetics

Biotechnology the Natural Beauty Booster - Good for Health and Earth!

Twitter Handle: @shuchi_nahar

The applications of biotechnology are so extensive that, currently, almost all industries can use this technology. This means that these industries can produce new or better products faster and more efficiently. Biotech beauty technically refers to ingredients that are generated with DNA editing and the help of organisms like algae, yeast, or bacteria. Biosynthesis is a multi-step, enzyme-catalyzed process where substrates are converted into more complex products in living organisms. In the biosynthesis stage, simple compounds are modified, converted, or joined together to form macromolecules.

Compounds like hyaluronic acid, squalane, and even collagen can be produced at high levels and in a completely pure and environmentally responsible way. In many ways, biotech can improve on what Mother Nature has provided through evolution. Then the building blocks of organic compounds are isolated, chemical energy is simulated, and cells are fermented, which causes them to multiply and grow. While these fermented cells, i.e., the biosynthetic ingredients, are bioidentical to ingredients that live in nature, Jay says their sustainability benefits are significant.

A New Opportunity for the Industry

The global natural cosmetics market size was estimated at USD 34.12 billion in 2018 and is projected to register a CAGR of 5.01% from 2019 to 2025 reaching at a valuation of USD 48.04 billion by 2025. Increasing demand for beauty products coupled with the rising awareness about environment-friendly products is expected to drive the growth. 

With more consumers demanding potent but safe products and environmentally responsible beauty and wellness solutions, K-beauty, and other major markets are already looking to biotech companies for new formulations of everything from hyaluronic acid to collagen. The sweet spot where biotech beauty is most valuable is that it combines sustainability, efficacy, and safety in one fell swoop.

Driving forces of the cosmetics industry

The cosmetics industry will undergo a paradigm shift in overall product creation from basic research to development to marketing.

In basic research, biotechnology will become increasingly more important due to advanced research in protecting skin from aging. In the development stage, electronics, information technology, food, and medical technologies will intersect, leading to the development of converged products and solutions. In marketing, as consumers’ knowledge increases, advertising highlighting research and development and stressing high-tech materials will be an appealing point rather than an emphasis on image.

Biotechnology has had an impact on cosmetics in several ways. Cosmetics companies use biotechnology to discover, develop, and produce components of cosmetic formulations and to evaluate the activity of these components on the skin, in particular, how they can affect the changes associated with aging. 

Thus, biotechnology represents a good alternative tool for developing active ingredients that are able to slow down the aging process. In this review, we focus on the description of all the active ingredients obtained through biotechnological processes, found in the available literature.

 

Fermentation Processes – Role in Beauty Biotechnology

Classical biotechnology is related to fermentation processes, which are defined as operations where microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, yeast, and some enzymes are used to obtain biotechnological products. Microorganisms have proved to be particularly useful owing to their ease of mass cultivation, speed of growth, use of cheap substrates, and the diversity of products they can originate.

In most industrial fermentation processes, there are several stages. These can include several stages of propagation of the inoculum (starter culture), pilot-scale fermentation, and the main production fermentation.

 

Biotechnology is defined as the application of knowledge in life sciences to create products or services that are beneficial to humans, being used to improve the quality and efficiency of food production, or even the production of cosmetic active ingredients, drugs, and vaccines. The selective breeding of animals the cultivation of crops and the use of microorganisms to produce products such as cheese, yogurt, bread, beer, and wine are considered previous forms of biotechnology. Currently, biotechnology places more emphasis on the development of hybrid genes, followed by their transfer to different organisms.

Cosmetics companies use biotechnology to discover, develop, and produce components of cosmetic formulations and to evaluate the activity of these components on the skin, in particular, how they can affect the changes associated with aging. Thus, biotechnology represents a good alternative tool for developing active ingredients that are able to slow down the aging process.

 

Over the past two centuries, science has made revolutionary breakthroughs across every plane of human life. Causally, our standards of beauty, as well as our capacities in this pursuit, have changed. As we continue marching forth in our development of cutting-edge technology, the boundaries between different industries—such as Biotechnology, cosmetics, and healthcare—erode. The scientific innovations of today will be the products we use tomorrow, and we are now in a position to begin to analyze the real-world effects of these technologies in regard to the cosmetics industry, whilst still keeping in mind the broader implications for society as a whole.

While sometimes successful – artificially selecting wolves into domesticated dogs – such efforts were painstakingly long and inefficient. Humanity is now in a fundamentally different position in regard to our ability to manipulate and engineer the collective biology of the earth, and much of this progress is being made in the field of Biotechnology.

In the cosmetics industry, various types of enzymes are used to develop formulations that facilitate the course of biochemical skin reactions, protecting the skin from aging. These enzymes are also responsible for protecting the skin against some external agents such as UV radiation and against free radicals.

Human growth factors are considered extraordinary molecules in the cosmetics industry, thanks to their important role in skincare. The use of these molecules for skin rejuvenation is thought to be an emerging and promising strategy. Advances in knowledge of the role of growth factors in wound healing and regeneration have aroused great interest in the role that these molecules may play in the repair of skin structures.

 
Role of Algae & Micro-organisms for cosmetic products

Billions of years ago, algae adapted to adverse and competitive environments, producing compounds and secondary metabolites for their protection, and being able to live in a wide range of ecological niches. Algae size ranges from microscopic individual microalgae cells to much larger organisms, macroalgae, which may reach above 30 m.

Currently, the cosmetics market has gained interest worldwide, owing to more active and consistent participation of consumers, who started to use these products more frequently.

The cosmetics industry, through biotechnological processes have contributed to obtaining a wide variety of cosmetic active ingredients.

Thus, biotechnology, cosmetics, and aesthetic medicines have been closely intertwined, allowing for new effective and safe formulations of active ingredients. This is a very promising area, currently, the number of biotechnological cosmetic products is rising, and its increase is expected soon. 

Link to my previous extensive biotechnology blog:https://myweekendspot.blogspot.com/2021/05/indias-biotechnology-industry-size.html

Sources: Grandview Research

-GM Market Research

-Pwc Research

- Globenewswire

-Future Market Insights

Twitter Handle: @shuchi_nahar

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