PCA Skin Heads to the International Space Station

PCA SKIN, a Colgate-Palmolive Company brand, plans to send the first-ever private sector skin health experiment to the International Space Station (ISS). The experiment, sponsored by the ISS National Lab, will explore the effects of microgravity on skin-related genes as the biomarkers used to evaluate overall skin health to help guide future product innovations and technologies, the press release explained.

The experiment will travel to the ISS on the Northrop Grumman's 17th commercial resupply services mission, contracted by NASA, in its Cygnus spacecraft no earlier than February 19, 2022, from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Virginia.

"We know from historical data that space travel and lengthy exposure to microgravity have profound effects on the skin. Astronauts in space experience thinning, dry skin that is susceptible to cuts. While these changes are comparable to those observed during the normal aging process on Earth, it appears that they are accelerated in microgravity," said Lia Arvanitidou, global technology and design vice president for Colgate-Palmolive's skin health businesses. "Through this exciting endeavor, we'll be able to gather new data on the skin health biomarkers behind those changes—data which will be available faster than it would be on Earth."

The brand hopes to find ways to better identify areas for early intervention in skin health and, according to the release, help innovate skincare of Colgate-Palmolive's skincare brands which include PCA SKIN, EltaMD, and Filorga.

Colgate-Palmoliveresearchers are partnered with BioServe Space Technologies, an ISS National Lab implementation partner that specializes in engineering space-based life science investigations to develop a custom device, containing live, lab-grown skin samples from MatTek Life Sciences. The researchers plan to expose the samples to the microgravity environment on the ISS for a set number of days to be determined and then then frozen until they are returned to Earth. After the samples are returned, the investigators will compare findings to those observed in matching control experiments conducted on Earth.

The experiment is Colgate-Palmolive's second research project to be conducted in collaboration with the ISS National Lab. "We are committed to exploring new pathways to innovation that help our customers feel their best. We are confident that our collaboration with the ISS National Lab will give us valuable insights to inform our work as a result-driven, professional-grade skincare company deeply rooted in science and skin health," Arvanitidousaid.

Reference:

PCA Skin looks to space for next breakthrough in skin health. Cision PR Newswire. Press release. Published 15, 2022.Accessed February 15, 2022. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pca-skin-looks-to-space-for-next-breakthrough-in-skin-health-301482505.html