Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/834468
www.ascpskincare.com 59 where plant stem cells can be genetically engineered to work in the human body; or better, we'll have less invasive options than what we have now to use our own stem cells. Using our own skin stem cells requires: 1. Harvesting them with minimum inflammatory response. 2. Getting the stem cells out of their "house" and on a genetic pathway to another house in the skin, such as a keratinocyte or a fibroblast cell. 3. Maintaining the differentiation over a period of time—47 days at least, until fresh epidermal tissue is maximized. TIP OF THE ICEBERG This is the tip of a very large iceberg, and I am deeply involved in the quest for answers. I encourage everyone to arm themselves with the available yet ever-changing knowledge. This information, in turn, will make cosmetic manufacturers more conscious of what is real and what may just be a marketing scheme. As a way of inflicting miniature wounds, technicians scratch cultured plant tissue. This damage stimulates the plant's growth factors to react and heal, inducing the formation of new stem cells on the wounded surfaces. After slow replication and division on the outside, new cells fashion a large accumulation of colorless cells, known as callous. Callouses are forced upon living plant stems to encourage new baby cells, harvested and then put into creams as "stem cell therapy." But this process does not provide any benefits for the skin (even rubbing human stem cells on the skin would never work. They have to be alive in the product despite even the most effective delivery mechanism). The most important issue is that plant stem cells have nothing to do with the human genetic blueprint. We're asking plants to act like animals, and that is something they don't know how to do. In other words, it is my contention that plant stem cells used in topical skin care products don't really work the way they are sometimes marketed to estheticians and consumers. THE RESEARCH CONTINUES Even if plant stem cells did have a biological energy kick start, many research papers conclude that stem cells are just too large to penetrate the lipid barrier of the epidermis, even if they could be somehow kept alive in a cream, serum, or other topical product. However, there is hope. Researchers are learning more about stem cells and growth factors every day. We know our human stem cells are productive, intelligent cells that are capable of regeneration and healing. Perhaps one day, we'll have a breakthrough