Science Snippets
March 10th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Question: What’s worse than not having hand sanitizer during a viral epidemic/pandemic? Answer: A “fake” hand sanitizer, one that does not kill viruses but gives you a (false) sense of security. True, some essential oils have activity against certain viruses in certain circumstances (plants have to defend themselves against viruses), but this does not mean that the essential oil in question provides protection against infection by any virus. I know how hard it is to get hold of hand sanitizer. It is also hard to get hold of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol. Incidentally, vodka is about 40% ethanol, it will not do the trick. Gin is even lower than that. If…
February 27th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
By James Hamblin. You will find the article here Here is a fragment: “Over the past month, stock prices of a small pharmaceutical company named Inovio have more than doubled. In mid-January, it reportedly discovered a vaccine for the new coronavirus. This claim has been repeated in many news reports, even though it is technically inaccurate. Like other drugs, vaccines require a long testing process to see whether they indeed protect people from disease, and do so safely. What this company—and others—has done is copy a bit of the virus’s RNA that one day could prove to work as a vaccine. It’s a promising first step, but to call it…
February 25th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The most despicable character in the film “Contagion” (2011) is not the virus (which, as a piece of nucleic acid, is not even alive so it can’t be evil), but Alan Krumwiede (portrayed by Jude Law), a conspiracy theorist who makes a killing (quite literally) out of a viral pandemic. For many years I have been more aware than many of how many Krumwiedes there are all over. I truly appreciate that in the film he and his awful methods are described so realistically. “Have you heard of Forsythia?” There are some excellent articles in the media about the new almost-but-not-quite coronavirus pandemic (as of today, 2/25/2020). Watch the movie…
February 15th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Stanley Cohen was 97 when he died on February 5th, 2020. This is the Stanley Cohen who discovered epidermal growth factor. He followed the path of so many immigrants and children of immigrants and benefited the USA and humanity with lives of extraordinary achievement. From Wikipedia Cohen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 17, 1922. He was the son of Fannie (née Feitel) and Louis Cohen, a tailor. His parents were Jewish immigrants. Cohen received his bachelor’s degree in 1943 from Brooklyn College, where he had double-majored in chemistry and biology. After working as a bacteriologist at a milk processing plant to earn money, he received his Master…
February 2nd, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
The answer is very complicated, so I hope you will you will bear with me. But first, why is the “how” important? Because if we know how estrogen supports the skin, then maybe we can help alleviate the damage we can see in the mirror when estrogen goes down. Estrogen does a lot for our bodies, including the skin and scalp. Estrogen deficiency (like in menopause, natural, or surgical or chemical) leads to ageing and delayed skin repair. Many women go through early menopause, or have to contend with the effects of removal of the ovaries, or deal with estrogen suppressants (to control the growth of a tumor that responds…
January 25th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
First, as always, INCI, the list of ingredients that tells you what’s in there. Progeline is a trade name for an ingredient that contains glycerin, water, dextran (a polysaccharide used in artificial tears) plus an undefined peptide, trifluoroacetyl-tripeptide-2. And then, as usual, “claims”. The people who sell it say that it “modulates progerin, a marker of senescence”. First, I will tell you what I know about progerin (you can find more in Wikipedia). And then, you can tell me whether would you trust a mystery synthetic peptide to “fix” it for you? Before progerin, there is Lamin-A, a nuclear fibrillar protein. Lamin A is a major structural component of the…
January 18th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Dear Reader, This is the introduction to my new book “Four degrees of Do It Yourself skin care”. I am assembling the chapters that will deal with botanical ingredients. I welcome suggestions on the ingredients you wish me to discuss in the book. Hannah We get attracted to plant extracts for many reasons. Besides advertising, there are cultural influences (what did your grandmother use when you were sick?), the attraction of the exotic (if it is Korean, it must be better), and even the common name of the plant (dragon’s blood, anybody?). As a scientist, I have to be more careful with how I choose plant extracts as…
January 18th, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We get attracted to plant extracts for many reasons. Besides advertising, there are cultural influences (what did your grandmother use when you were sick?), the attraction of the exotic (if it is Korean, it must be better), and even the common name of the plant (dragon’s blood, anybody?). As a scientist, I have to be more careful with how I choose plant extracts as an ingredient for our Skin Actives products. Yes, I look at plants that were used for centuries by different peoples. I read the publications that deal with the ethnological use of the plant extracts, but that is only the beginning. Maybe the ancient people who used…
January 1st, 2020 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Answer: We understand the seriousness of the problem and we face it differently. The key concept is that the skin is alive and quite capable of doing its job, until it isn’t. What has changed? The skin ages, or is damaged, or the environment changes and overwhelms the defenses. Our answer: we replenish the skin’s natural defenses, by carefully following the established antioxidant system already at work in our skin. We don’t innovate in the sense that we don’t build from scratch, we only refresh, “top-up” the natural order. We can achieve this because we understand how the skin functions: its anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, and molecular biology. Amazing scientific advances…
November 23rd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I know, it is a lot of work, but as you get more used to doing it, it will become easier and faster. The problem is that sometimes the manufacturers “forget” to list an ingredient or two and then you need to read between the lines. I was helping my grandson with his Science Fair project. What did I learn? A lot. First, let me tell you that herbicides are based on the same principle as antibiotics: they have to be selective, i.e. kill the baddie without harming the goodie, For antibiotics (and antifungals) the baddie is the microbe, and we humans are the goodies. For herbicides, the goodie is…
November 11th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Never apply an essential oil directly to your skin! They are powerful chemicals, powerful enough to dissolve plastic and kill your skin cells. The very volatile molecules in essential oils reach the olfactory bulbs in our noses giving us great pleasure. Essential oils are extracted from a variety of plants and contain the volatile chemicals that can be evaporated by distillation, although sometimes they are pressed directly from leaves and fruit peel. The high price of some flower essential oils is due to the very low yield, i.e. many pounds of plant material need to be treated to get just a few drops of essential oil. Essential oils are a…
November 10th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I always had my own explanation: when we age, we have less blood vessels reaching our dermis, and nutrition decreases. Also, production of growth factors decreases. Mitochondria get “older” and are less efficient at producing energy. These statements are based on research. In fact, I am sure that almost everything has changed in my skin since I was a little girl. But this does not mean that changing those things back (assuming it would be possible!) would have a rejuvenating effect. And it is not enough to speculate, I would ask for proof and, if possible, a mechanism of action. This is why I like the latest news from the…
October 24th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Warning: this is a “heavy” post that may feel to you like you are back in school and not in a good way (like for prom). You don’t have to read it but the objective is to convey to you the complexity of skin metabolism and molecular biology and why you should never look for a “magic” ingredient when it comes to skin youth and health. In short, life (LIFE) is complicated. Your skin is alive. Below the few layers of dead cells in the epidermis, perfectly designed for the tough job of protecting your body from pollution and damage, is the basal cell layer. Here is your stem cells…
September 28th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
“Breakthrough’s” James Allison is having fun and curing cancer The Nobel laureate talks about his new documentary and the cancer treatment revolution Mary Elizabeth Williams September 27, 2019 10:00PM (UTC) Dr. James Allison doesn’t look the part. The diehard Willie Nelson fan has an unruly head of gray hair and plays harmonica with his blues band. He’s been described in the press as a “carousing Texan.” He’s also a Nobel laureate, a man whose unwavering faith in and curiosity about the human immune system led to one of the most revolutionary developments in cancer research in over a century. Oh, and he saved my life. Eight years ago, after a…
September 20th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
Some scientists, when doing their research, realize that something is missing Few of them are capable of developing something new, a new method, a new tool, that allows them to do that experiment they want to do. Even fewer of them find that their innovation becomes a useful tool for many other scientists. This is why such developments are revolutionary, because they can advance research in many fields. I was fortunate to meet some of these people. So please, let me show off! I will add more names later on. Norman Good (1917-1992) Buffers are crucial tools in biochemistry and physiology because life depends on regulation of pH (acidity of…
September 14th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
We need to start with the basics: what is a pore, and why they are so important. There will be some repetition here but I hope our readers will not mind too much. As usual, feel free to skip whatever is too boring, but, hidden within the boring stuff you may find some useful facts you have not heard about in the past. Celebrities’ photos how no pores. This is not because celebrities have no pores but because magazines use Photoshop to a ridiculous extent. Is this a problem? I think it is. False advertising makes women buy products that can’t possibly have the effect advertised, which was obtained with…
September 2nd, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
pe·jo·ra·tive /pəˈjôrədiv/ adjective: expressing contempt or disapproval. To say that the epidermis is made of dead cells is to diminish its importance and to promote the (false) idea that it is OK to tamper with it with expensive devices and chemicals. In any case, it is a bad idea to use pejorative terms when talking about our bodies, and that includes our skin. The skin is very a very complex organ, the result of evolutionary processes that occurred through millions of years (you can google Saccorhytus). The skin makes it possible for humans to survive outside the water. In Arizona, that can mean 29% relative humidity like today, meaning that…
August 17th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
ideas did not amount to science, in that they did not lend themselves to rigorous proof. Look at this description: “Gokujyun Lotion, and other Hada Labo and Hada Labo Tokyo™ products have a unique and powerful combination of 3 types of Hyaluronic Acid, designed to restore and strengthen skin’s natural hydrating ability and youthful qualities. 1 of the 3, Micro Hyaluronic Acid, is smaller than 50 kDa, and due to its micro size, it penetrates deep into skin to infuse moisture below the surface, providing skin replenishment and moisturization from the inside-out.” It “sounds” scientific: the words micro and hyaluronic acid convey seriousness. The rest if advertising parlance. And this is how scientific language sounds. Less interesting but…
August 17th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I would choose two: Drs Luis Leloir and Carlos Cardini. They were also among the very best scientists I ever met, and leaders of a scientific group that achieved Nobel prize fame. They were also great at promoting women and respectful and kind. From one of my articles: “Although the basic studies in starch biosynthesis were carried out in England during the 1940s and led to the discovery of phosphorylase and Q enzyme (branching enzyme), the basis of our modern ideas originated in Argentina from the work of Luis F. Leloir and Carlos E. Cardini. During the late 1950s, they established that nucleoside diphosphate glucose was involved in the synthesis…
August 17th, 2019 by Dr. Hannah Sivak
I never felt jealous of Elizabeth Holmes, the infamous founder of Theranos, a company that sold science fiction as health care (Walgreens bought into it). Her photo on magazine covers did not impress me. I am human, I do get jealous of scientists that achieve something important and useful or just beautiful, because sometimes experiments are beautifully done and they become more than science, almost a work of art. But in the case of E.H., I knew that she was trying to con the world. I have many decades of biochemistry on me and I know how to analyze scientific (or pseudo-scientific) talk. I still resent the fact that so…