Could tobacco plants give us younger skin?

It's well-known that smoking tobacco ages the skin in an accelerated way. But now, a clever researcher has figured out how to make genetically-altered tobacco plants do something really cool - make collagen, which is the main protein in our skin. And that certainly gets my attention for potential cosmetic uses, even though this technology is at a very preliminary stage.

Here's the story, courtesy of Yahoo News....

Will tobacco plants provide the next cosmetic filler? Very possibly, according to findings recently published in the journal Biomacromolecules.

Researcher Oded Shoseyov of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has figured out how to get tobacco plants to produce a human-like collagen. Collagen is the main protein in skin, tendons, cartilage, bone and connective tissue. It typically declines during the normal aging process, allowing cheeks to sag and wrinkles to set in.

While primarily being marketed for medical purposes - such as for bone and heart repairs - the new synthetic collagen may someday be used cosmetically.

"This is a very unique collagen," said Noa Lapido, assistant vice president of CollPlant, the company handling the patents coming from Shoseyov's laboratory. "It is very very similar to human collagen and, as it has not come in contact with any animals, it is much better and much safer than other collagens."

It is not that tobacco plants naturally have these beautifying or medical benefits. Producing human-like collagen from a tobacco plant is a technological feat, involving the simultaneous "turning on" of five specific genes in a genetically modified tobacco plant.

Cosmetic uses of the new collagen are currently unlikely, Lapido said, as the price is several hundred to several thousand times more expensive than other options. But it may become more reasonable, she said, "in a few years time."

Hello, Evolence!

Here's a new twist on an "old friend" - collagen is back, in a new & improved way. Known as Evolence - and don't ask me how they come up with these names - it's an FDA-approved filler with a good track record for wrinkle correction after being on the market several years in Europe. It's now available in the USA.

Compared to the old collagen products (Zyderm & Zyplast), Evolence offers several advantages:

1) no need for a skin test prior to treatment to check for sensitivities or allergies, which happened in about 1% of people with the old product;

2) much longer-lasting correction. European studies show a duration of about 12 months; and

3) minimal bruising from the injection.

Overall, it looks promising, and we're now going to offer it in my practice, adding another option to the many other FDA-approved fillers we have.

What will be really interesting is a head-to-head comparison study comparing Evolence to some of the better hyaluronic gel fillers. This study is underway. "Which filler will reign supreme?"...we'll have to wait and see!