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Many assume that natural ingredients are always the best choice for beauty products. Is “natural” automatically superior?
But that might not always be the case. Consider those natural essential oils; the extraction process typically discards over of the plant, which then decomposes in landfills, releasing carbon dioxide and methane. And that rose-scented perfume? It requires to produce just five milliliters of rose oil. What about the striking red lipstick? Producing one pound of the red pigment, carmine, requires harvesting and crushing over . Unfortunately, animal-derived ingredients are still present in cosmetics.
The idea that “natural is better” overlooks the significant impact of global ingredient harvesting, especially given the increasing concerns about climate change, biodiversity loss, plant extinction, and harm to local communities. For example, the harvesting of palm oil, used in various beauty and skincare products like soap, shampoo, makeup, and hair care, leads to significant deforestation and environmental damage. The World Wildlife Fund estimates that forests the size of are cleared every hour for palm plantations, destroying the habitats of endangered species like orangutans, rhinos, and tigers.
The Earth cannot sustain the consumer demand for natural beauty ingredients. Cultivation requires vast land, is highly water and energy-intensive, and necessitates pesticides and other agrochemicals. Plus, there are substantial associated with transporting ingredients from around the globe. Furthermore, the growing global population increases the need to conserve land and natural resources for agriculture.
We need an alternative, and biotechnology offers a potential solution by reducing our reliance on unsustainable ingredient extraction while catering to our love for natural products.
Biotechnology generates significantly less waste in a bioreactor compared to ingredient cultivation and harvesting. Studies suggest that biotechnology can create ingredients of or more, exceeding the standards of organically-based beauty products. It eliminates the need for pesticides, significantly reduces carbon dioxide emissions, and dramatically lowers land and water usage. Additionally, it ensures consistent ingredient quality by removing batch or seasonal variability found in crop-grown ingredients. Biotechnology also minimizes the need to air-freight ingredients from different parts of the world, significantly reducing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, without biotechnology, beauty companies such as L’Oréal would not be able to of achieving 95% bio-based ingredients by 2030. Biotechnology also eliminates the dependence on unsustainable, petrochemical-based ingredients derived from fossil fuels such as oil and gas.
In essence, biotechnology imitates nature on an industrial scale, delivering the benefits of nature—and a potentially endless supply of ingredients—while preserving global biodiversity.
You might wonder, “How does this work in practice?” The biomanufacturing process resembles beer brewing, but instead of beer, enzymes and microbes are taught or “recoded” to create ingredients from sugar and other renewable sources. Biotech ingredients are nature-identical, genetic duplicates of the real thing.
Consider Naringenin, a skincare ingredient from grapefruit known for reducing chronic low-level inflammation. Producing 1 kilogram of Naringenin requires 3,356 grapefruits, 0.37 acres of land, and 38,575 liters of water. Biotechnology provides the potency of this ingredient without land or water waste, preserving natural resources for sustainable food production.
Biotechnology is also changing the “more is better” approach to cosmetic active ingredient concentrations. New biotech molecules are so potent that they can be used in very low concentrations, typically less than 0.5%, compared to the 15 or 20% for natural ingredients like vitamin C. Biotech beauty dosages are similar to pharmaceuticals. Too much ibuprofen is harmful, but a targeted, defined, and scientifically-proven amount can be helpful. The same applies to cosmetic active ingredients. Biotechnology allows for high potency with minimal exposure to harsh active ingredients, resulting in fewer side effects and reduced skin sensitization.
Of course, there are challenges. Biotech is expensive in research, development, and manufacturing. Bio-active ingredients, which directly affect the body, will succeed first because they improve product efficacy and give brands a competitive edge. Non-active ingredients, lacking a therapeutic effect (like emollients, surfactants, and emulsifiers), aren’t currently competitive because they don’t target specific skin conditions; they mainly deliver active ingredients. Petroleum-based ingredients and products are also very cheap to make, and bio-based alternatives to palm oil will take years to compete with the low cost of palm oil production in the chemical industry. But change is coming.
Little has changed in beauty over the past 30 years, with ingredients like cortisone, salicylic acid, and coal tar still used for conditions like eczema, acne, and dandruff. Biotechnology promises to change this, first in topical beauty, then in nutrition and over-the-counter products, using personalized ingredients that work with or even alter our biology. There is much to anticipate.
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