Dermagenetics featured in Oscar week article: "Time to Pamper 'Em"
March 9, 2005

Los Angeles, Feb. 26 (Reuters): A DNA test to determine how prone you are to wrinkles, a placenta facial, a diamond-tipped wand to scrape off dead skin cells, freckles removed from your cleavage — it’s Oscar week in Hollywood.

Hundreds of cosmetic companies, spas and beauty salons are giving away their services across Los Angeles before tomorrow’s Oscar ceremony, hoping that the most glamourous and richest women in the world will get hooked on their brands.

One of the newest options is called “dermagenetics.” Dr Bob Keller, a former trauma surgeon with a slight resemblance to Star Trek’s William Shatner, will take a swab from inside the mouth, analyse the results and produce a personalised anti-wrinkle cream based on a patient’s genetic profile.

“There’s five very key wrinkle genes, and we can identify them with a simple swab test,” said Keller, who admits to being “around 60” and has a relatively unlined face, despite what he calls a bad genetic profile that leads him to pop a handful of vitamins and other supplements each day.

“We used to say health was preventing or curing diseases. That’s not what health is. Health is preventing ageing,” Keller said, adding that he expects eventually to be able to tell patients whether they are prone to heart disease based on the DNA test. He emphasises that his tests remain strictly confidential and he is careful not to name names.

“I have a lot of really high profile people. They come from all over the world to get their checkups and gene tests.” Across town from the Hollywood Hills mansion where Keller was touting his high-tech skin creams, celebrities at a hotel in Beverly Hills were being offered an “Emergency Youth Facial” involving a scrub and a pumpkin mask.

For more spiritual help, feng shui jewellery designer Nan Fisher was hoping to spread a little happiness and good fortune with necklaces that she says have a proven track record. She cites actor Jennifer Garner, star of TV show Alias and 13 Going on 30, who wears a prosperity necklace. “When she first got it, her career was okay, but after she started wearing it, it just took off,” Fisher said.

SOURCE: The Telegraph