護膚品不好用 沒準和你的DNA有關大綱

LONDON — What’s being billed as the future of skin care starts suspiciously like a visit to the dentist: with a mouthwash gargle. That’s to eliminate debris that may interfere with a good saliva sample, from which DNA will be extracted and serums tailored to one’s genetic blueprint.

倫敦——有人稱，皮膚護理以後可能會非常像看牙醫，第一道程序是漱口。漱口以去除食物殘渣，爲選取唾液樣本提供方便。從唾液中提取DNA，就可以按照基因圖譜定製血清。

The test is from a company called GeneU (pronounced “gene you”) and performed at its nine-month-old shop on New Bond Street, which looks like a cross between a science fiction movie set and a silver-gray-and-red-dipped Apple store — perhaps fittingly, because the DNA test is done by a flash-drive-size microchip. It’s administered by one of a handful of improbably dewy-skinned beauties who also happen to have Ph.D.s.

進行這項測試的是一個名叫GeneU（發音是gene you）的公司，該公司九個月前剛在新邦德街(New Bond Street)開了一家店。店鋪看起來像是科幻電影片場和銀灰色加紅色點綴的蘋果店鋪的結合體。這樣的外觀也許很合適，因爲DNA測試是通過一個閃存盤大小的微芯片進行的。操作者是幾個美女，她們的皮膚水嫩得不可思議，而且還都是博士。

Unlike other DNA tests, which are sent to labs and take at least two weeks to complete, GeneU’s in-store test is done in 30 minutes. Currently, it looks only at variations in two genes: one that contains instructions for how fast your body degrades collagen and the other for antioxidant protection.

其他DNA測試都要送到實驗室，至少需要兩週才能完成，而GeneU公司的店內測試只要30分鐘就能完成。目前的測試只關注兩種基因變體：一種能指示身體膠原蛋白的退化速度，另一種能指示抗氧化保護程度。

Results are fed, along with answers to a short lifestyle questionnaire, into an algorithm, which produces the two of the company’s 18 serums that are the best match. (The formulations are based on ingredients and concentrations drawn from peer-reviewed research.)

將測試結果和一個簡短的生活方式問卷的答案一起輸入某種程序，就能找到該公司的18種血清中最適合這種肌膚的兩種血清（配方的成分和濃縮物來自同行評議調查）。

The cost: £600, or roughly $940, for the test plus a two week’s supply. For reasons of privacy, test results are destroyed; only the recommended serums are saved.

這些測試和兩週劑量的血清費用一共是600英鎊（約合5837.6元）。爲了保密，測試結果會被銷燬，只保留推薦的兩種血清。

The theory behind GeneU is that out-of-the-box (or really, jar or pot) skin care may be loaded with potentially beneficial ingredients, but they are not necessarily what your skin specifically needs. If you are, say, someone whose MMP1 gene is programmed to degrade collagen slowly, GeneU’s theory is that it’s a waste of time (and money) to spend years slathering creams that claim to boost its production; doing so won’t turn the clock back at warp speed (if at all), and may even clog your pores or cause other damage. It seems that in skin care, as with medicine, more is not necessarily better.

GeneU認爲，盒裝（實際上還可能是瓶裝或罐裝）護膚品可能含有很多潛在的有益成分，但它們不一定是你的肌膚需要的。比如，如果你的基因是MMP1型的——這種肌膚的膠原蛋白退化得比較慢——那麼GeneU認爲，花多年時間（和金錢）塗上聲稱能促進膠原蛋白生成的面霜是一種浪費。對於你來說，它不能讓時光飛速倒流（即使它真的有效），而且可能堵塞你的毛孔，導致其他傷害。護膚品就像藥物一樣，不是越多越好。

“For us it’s about giving people the right concentrations that their skin can metabolize,” said Christofer Toumazou, the company’s founder and a professor at Imperial College London.

“在我們看來，最重要的是給人們提供他們的肌膚能夠代謝的適合他們的濃縮物，”該公司創始人、倫敦帝國學院(Imperial College London)教授克里斯托弗·圖馬佐(Christofer Toumazou)說。

Dr. Toumazou is not a dermatologist; he’s an electrical engineer by training, one who has developed an artificial pancreas for Type I diabetes, an artificial ear implant that allows deaf children to hear and a wireless heart monitor. He became interested in DNA more than a decade ago when his son was found to have a genetic disease.

圖馬佐不是皮膚科醫生，而是一名科班出身的電機工程師，他爲I型糖尿病研發了一種人造胰腺，爲失聰兒童研發了一種人造耳朵植入物，還設計了一款無線心臟監測器。十多年前，他兒子被確診爲患有一種基因疾病，他開始對DNA產生興趣。

The company’s creative director is — wait for it — Nick Rhodes, Duran Duran’s keyboard player, who’s no stranger to beauty products. He wore the same pink Yves Saint Laurent lipstick as his bride on his wedding day in 1984.

該公司的創意總監——聽好了哦——是杜蘭杜蘭樂隊(Duran Duran)的鍵盤手尼克·羅茲(Nick Rhodes)。他非常熟悉美容產品。1984年，在他的婚禮上，他和新娘一樣，塗着伊夫·聖羅蘭(Yves Saint Laurent )粉色口紅。

Double-blind clinical trials over 18 months suggest that GeneU reduces fine lines and wrinkles by up to 30 percent in 12 weeks, Dr. Toumazou said. The results have not yet been published. Still, Dr. S. Tyler Hollmig, an assistant professor of dermatologic surgery at Stanford University, is skeptical (though he described what GeneU is doing as “really cool and admirable”).

圖馬佐說，18個月的雙盲臨牀測試表明，GeneU能在12周內將細紋和皺紋減少達30%。測試結果尚未發表。不過，斯坦福大學皮膚病外科助理教授S·泰勒·霍爾米希博士(S. Tyler Hollmig)對此有所懷疑（雖然他說，GeneU在做的事情“真的很酷，令人欽佩”）。

“It’s the environment that drives aging,” Dr. Hollmig said. “If you have one identical twin growing up in Belize and the other in Belgium, their skin is going to look completely different.” He also pointed out that despite the fuss about antioxidants (raise your hand if you’ve increased your blueberry intake in the last decade), there is, somewhat unbelievably, no strong peer-reviewed research showing that they actually do much to stave off signs of age.

“導致皮膚老化的是環境，”霍爾米希說，“如果有兩個一模一樣的雙胞胎，一個在伯利茲長大，另一個在比利時長大，他們的皮膚會看起來完全不同。”他還指出，儘管抗氧化劑曾讓人們極爲興奮（如果你在過去十年裏增加藍莓攝入的話，舉起你的手看看效果如何），但是有點令人難以置信的是，沒有有力的同行評議調查表明，它們真的非常有助於延緩皮膚衰老。

Dr. Toumazou plans to better address the environment issue with the next iteration of his DNA test, which will focus on epigenetics (that is, whether and how your genes switch on and off because of your lifestyle). He also plans to add even more options for customization by including tests for other genes related to skin health, like those that control skin’s elasticity and hyperpigmentation.

圖馬佐計劃在他的下一代DNA測試中更多關注外界因素，把重點放在實驗胚胎學上（也就是說，生活方式是否或如何影響基因表現）。他還打算加入更多個性化選擇，包括與肌膚健康相關的其他基因測試，比如那些控制肌膚彈性和過度色素沉着的基因。

GeneU isn’t the only company offering skin care tailored to genetics. SkinShift in Austin, Tex., outsources its $99 DNA test, then suggests, based on what it determines is the highest priority for your skin, some combination drawn from an available pool of four serums and five nutritional supplements. None cost more than $75. Like Dr. Toumazou, SkinShift’s founder, Dr. Ruthie Harper, is not a dermatologist; she’s an internist.

GeneU不是唯一一家根據基因定製皮膚護理的公司。德克薩斯州奧斯汀的SkinShift公司也經營這樣的業務。它把自己的99美元DNA測試外包了出去，然後根據測試結果確定你皮膚最缺乏的元素，從已有的四種血清和五種營養補充劑中選出對應的元素進行組合。所有組合的售價都在75美元以內。和圖馬佐一樣，SkinShift的創始人呂蒂·哈珀博士(Ruthie Harper)也不是皮膚科醫生——她是內科醫生。

Dr. Hollmig is equally skeptical about SkinShift and, though he was more impressed with GeneU, admitted that the only major difference between the two may be the cost. GeneU’s technology is shinier, and it offers more options for customization, but skin-aging studies with many ingredients (like antioxidants) have mostly not been well-controlled for specific formulation and dose, adequate sample size or randomized design, so it’s not known for sure if they work. The idea, then, of a carefully tailored amount is almost irrelevant.

霍爾米西對SkinShift同樣表示質疑。雖然他對GeneU的印象更爲深刻，但是他承認，兩家公司唯一的主要區別是價格。GeneU的技術更引人注目，提供更多個性化選擇，但是由於對很多成分（比如抗氧化劑）在皮膚老化中作用的研究大多沒有對具體的配方和劑量進行很好的控制，樣本數量不夠，設計比較隨意，所以不能確定這些成分是否有效果。因此，精心定製劑量的概念也幾乎無關緊要。

GeneU grew out of a chance meeting about three years ago, when Dr. Toumazou was seated next to Mr. Rhodes on a private jet from London to a sheikh friend’s birthday party in Venice. (Dr. Toumazou had no idea who Mr. Rhodes was until his wife whispered it.) Mr. Rhodes encouraged Dr. Toumazou to start his own company, instead of just licensing technology.

GeneU的想法誕生於大約三年前的一次偶然會面。圖馬佐從倫敦搭乘私人飛機，去威尼斯參加一位族長朋友的生日派對，坐在他旁邊的是羅茲（圖馬佐不知道羅茲是誰，直到妻子悄悄告訴他）。羅茲鼓勵圖馬佐開創自己的公司，而不是僅僅把技術轉讓出去。

“I’ve used everything from the cheapest thing you can find in the drugstore to the most expensive top-of-the-line serums,” Mr. Rhodes said. “This to me was like a magnet. You’re taking out all the guesswork.” He said he has seen an improvement in fine lines since using GeneU’s products. (The company has been pleasantly surprised by interest from men; Mr. Rhodes thinks the techie aspect of it appeals to them.)

“我用過各種護膚品，從你能在藥店找到的最便宜的護膚品到最昂貴的頂級血清，”羅茲說，“這對我極具吸引力。經過測試，你就不必胡亂猜測了。”他說，自從使用GeneU的產品之後，他臉上的細紋減少了（男性對該公司的興趣讓他們感到驚喜。羅茲認爲是高科技元素吸引了男性）。

Mr. Rhodes designed the shop, including its Mondrian-esque photographs on the wall (actually enlarged images of Dr. Toumazou’s microchips) and recruited Antony Price, the designer of Duran Duran’s fluorescent suits in its “Rio” video, to create staff uniforms of silver silk pants and matching tops with standing collars.

店鋪是羅茲設計的，包括牆上的蒙德里安(Mondrian)風格照片（它實際上是圖馬佐的微芯片的放大圖像）。他還僱傭安東尼·普賴斯(Antony Price)設計員工制服。杜蘭杜蘭樂隊在音樂錄影帶《里約》(Rio)中穿的熒光套裝就是普賴斯設計的。員工制服是銀色絲質褲子搭配同色立領上裝。

Mr. Rhodes also nixed Dr. Toumazou’s original name, Genonics. It “wasn’t as hook-y,” he said, ever the songwriter.

羅茲還否決了圖馬佐最初給公司取的名字Genonics。這位曾經的歌曲作者說，那個名字“不夠吸引人”。