Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

Expensive 'Custom' Wrinkle Cream Available

Aired December 18, 2002 - 10:32   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to this morning's "Daily Dose," wrinkle cream customized from your own DNA. That is what one company says it has come up with based on research from the human genome project. Is it science or just marketing?
Let's check in with our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She is at the cosmetics department. She is at Parisian, that is a department store just right up the road from us here at CNN -- Elizabeth, good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Daryn. I am not Christmas shopping, really. I'm here to do a story. I may get some shopping in later.

I am here to tell you about this new cream that is coming out, it is one bottle, one little jar, $250, it is allegedly based on your DNA. They take a swab of your cheek, they see what your DNA is, and then they put together a cream that's allegedly based just for you. Now I have with me here Charles Ryan (ph), a biologist, who is with Lab 21.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

COHEN: Good morning to you. Show me what you do. If I were a customer coming in here for your product, what would you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. The first thing we would do is we would actually do a comprehensive analysis of your skin by asking you 21 questions about your skin. So we look at sensitivity, pore size, how much you spend time in the sun.

Then, after that comprehensive analysis, we would take it to the next step and look at your DNA, and the way that we do that is we actually collect a sample of your DNA by rubbing the inner cheek of your mouth and then we send it to a world-renowned genotyping laboratory. The results take about a week. It is sent back to our laboratories in New York where a 100 percent custom formulated skin care product is made for your skin and yours alone.

COHEN: Well, show me how it would work, you have some swabs here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'll ask you to do, Elizabeth, is I'm going to take one of these swabs -- there are actually two in here, and I'm going to ask you to open your mouth and just place, if you would, place your hand on your cheek. Thanks. And I'm just going to take a sample. It's a very easy procedure to do. And it allows us, then, to analyze five genes specific for your skin. And this information, together with the information from our profile, allows us to custom formulate a product. So I would actually do, if you were a regular customer, I would do two more, but this gives you an idea of what we would do. We'd let these dry. Then all of these samples are actually bar coded, so it is actually sent in a confidential mailer, so the person doing the analysis on the genes doesn't know anything about you. They simply know that this information needs to be looked at for five genes and then sent back to our laboratories.

Once that information is sent to the laboratory, a custom formulated product, totally suited for your individual skin is made, and it comes back to the store.

COHEN: And show me the size bottle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. It's a 1.7-ounce jar, or 50 ML. This product will last you between three and four months. It's a fabulous product. Let me just give you an idea of what it looks like. It's very emollient. I'll put a little bit on your hand if I might just to give you an idea. It really is a luxurious product, and I can tell you, our customers at Parisian and Sachs and Berg Dawson (ph) and Fred Sigel Essentials (ph) have all found this to be totally extraordinary.

COHEN: I find it to be totally expensive. I mean, $250 for this much? That's a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, it's not that much, and I'll tell you why. First of all, there is a tremendous amount of science. We have spent millions of dollars in our research. All of this profiling analysis, together with the DNA analysis allows us to custom formulate. I can tell you, there are mass produced products on the market that sell for prices higher than $250 for the same size. There are products for $400. They're not even custom made for you. So what people are doing now is they're actually going from one product to another.

COHEN: Now, thank you very much, Charles Ryan (ph), a biologist. I want to tell you, Daryn and Leon, that I've spoken with many dermatologists and geneticists who say this is crazy. Just because you know what genes are for skin does not mean that you can actually make a product. They say this is a gimmick and snake oil, but we'll see how well it sells, it just went on the market -- back to you.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, before we let you go, can you ask the science guy over there, customized how? Would that mean that you get more -- I would get more goo in mine than you would get in yours, just how my genes look?

COHEN: Right. I asked them that earlier. What they said is that they would look at our DNA. So if, for example, if my DNA says that I'm more sensitive to sun than you are, I might get more sunscreen or a different kind of sunscreen than you get. However, the doctors who we've talked to have said the DNA can't tell you that, we are not that far advanced yet. So it really all depends on who you believe.

KAGAN: All right, $250 for the wrinkles, I don't know. But $250 for some voice cream for you, Elizabeth, I think we are going to kick in. We'll be checking in with you a little later, thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 18, 2002 - 10:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to this morning's "Daily Dose," wrinkle cream customized from your own DNA. That is what one company says it has come up with based on research from the human genome project. Is it science or just marketing?
Let's check in with our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. She is at the cosmetics department. She is at Parisian, that is a department store just right up the road from us here at CNN -- Elizabeth, good morning.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Daryn. I am not Christmas shopping, really. I'm here to do a story. I may get some shopping in later.

I am here to tell you about this new cream that is coming out, it is one bottle, one little jar, $250, it is allegedly based on your DNA. They take a swab of your cheek, they see what your DNA is, and then they put together a cream that's allegedly based just for you. Now I have with me here Charles Ryan (ph), a biologist, who is with Lab 21.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

COHEN: Good morning to you. Show me what you do. If I were a customer coming in here for your product, what would you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. The first thing we would do is we would actually do a comprehensive analysis of your skin by asking you 21 questions about your skin. So we look at sensitivity, pore size, how much you spend time in the sun.

Then, after that comprehensive analysis, we would take it to the next step and look at your DNA, and the way that we do that is we actually collect a sample of your DNA by rubbing the inner cheek of your mouth and then we send it to a world-renowned genotyping laboratory. The results take about a week. It is sent back to our laboratories in New York where a 100 percent custom formulated skin care product is made for your skin and yours alone.

COHEN: Well, show me how it would work, you have some swabs here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'll ask you to do, Elizabeth, is I'm going to take one of these swabs -- there are actually two in here, and I'm going to ask you to open your mouth and just place, if you would, place your hand on your cheek. Thanks. And I'm just going to take a sample. It's a very easy procedure to do. And it allows us, then, to analyze five genes specific for your skin. And this information, together with the information from our profile, allows us to custom formulate a product. So I would actually do, if you were a regular customer, I would do two more, but this gives you an idea of what we would do. We'd let these dry. Then all of these samples are actually bar coded, so it is actually sent in a confidential mailer, so the person doing the analysis on the genes doesn't know anything about you. They simply know that this information needs to be looked at for five genes and then sent back to our laboratories.

Once that information is sent to the laboratory, a custom formulated product, totally suited for your individual skin is made, and it comes back to the store.

COHEN: And show me the size bottle.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. It's a 1.7-ounce jar, or 50 ML. This product will last you between three and four months. It's a fabulous product. Let me just give you an idea of what it looks like. It's very emollient. I'll put a little bit on your hand if I might just to give you an idea. It really is a luxurious product, and I can tell you, our customers at Parisian and Sachs and Berg Dawson (ph) and Fred Sigel Essentials (ph) have all found this to be totally extraordinary.

COHEN: I find it to be totally expensive. I mean, $250 for this much? That's a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, it's not that much, and I'll tell you why. First of all, there is a tremendous amount of science. We have spent millions of dollars in our research. All of this profiling analysis, together with the DNA analysis allows us to custom formulate. I can tell you, there are mass produced products on the market that sell for prices higher than $250 for the same size. There are products for $400. They're not even custom made for you. So what people are doing now is they're actually going from one product to another.

COHEN: Now, thank you very much, Charles Ryan (ph), a biologist. I want to tell you, Daryn and Leon, that I've spoken with many dermatologists and geneticists who say this is crazy. Just because you know what genes are for skin does not mean that you can actually make a product. They say this is a gimmick and snake oil, but we'll see how well it sells, it just went on the market -- back to you.

KAGAN: Elizabeth, before we let you go, can you ask the science guy over there, customized how? Would that mean that you get more -- I would get more goo in mine than you would get in yours, just how my genes look?

COHEN: Right. I asked them that earlier. What they said is that they would look at our DNA. So if, for example, if my DNA says that I'm more sensitive to sun than you are, I might get more sunscreen or a different kind of sunscreen than you get. However, the doctors who we've talked to have said the DNA can't tell you that, we are not that far advanced yet. So it really all depends on who you believe.

KAGAN: All right, $250 for the wrinkles, I don't know. But $250 for some voice cream for you, Elizabeth, I think we are going to kick in. We'll be checking in with you a little later, thank you so much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com