The beauty of biodesign: new frontier for collagen

Today’s beauty consumer demands sustainable, animal-free, and performance driven products. These shifting sentiments put active ingredients in the spotlight and demand innovation. Biodesign is rising to the challenge. This approach to product development combines advances in computational biology and precision fermentation to deliver the best of nature’s depth and diversity to consumers. While many are familiar with biotechnology’s first breakthrough ingredient – hyaluronic acid (HA) – proteins like collagen have rapidly emerged as the pioneering products enabled by biodesign.

HA from microbial fermentation paved the way for future fermentation-derived bioactive ingredients. In 1998 scientists at Savient Pharmaceuticals successfully produced high molecular weight HA, historically sourced from rooster combs, through precision fermentation of the microorganism Streptococcus zooepidemicus. 1 Biotechnology unlocked the potential to create sustainable alternatives to animal-derived molecules that eliminate unethical practices, complicated supply chains, and the use of environmentally harsh chemical processes.

Collagen is another popular ingredient in beauty and an important target for biodesign as it is the most abundant protein in the human body, responsible for structure, stability, and strength within the dermal layers. In addition to its essential structural function, collagen is a signaling molecule defining cellular activities.