Scientists hail most 'advanced anti-aging serum' in world

The short version: In late 2014, one of Britain's leading engineers, Imperial College London's Regius Professor Chris Toumazou, launched a company selling anti-aging serums tailored to the customer's DNA. A cheek swab, a microchip test, a 30-minute wait — and a serum "matched" to your genes. The headline claim was a 30% reduction in wrinkles in twelve weeks. That number was the company's own trial result, not independent science.

Toumazou is a serious scientist — he won the European Inventor Award for the DNA microchip technology behind the product. The Geneu concept borrowed from personalized medicine: analyze two genes (one linked to collagen breakdown, one to antioxidant protection), add lifestyle details like sun exposure and smoking, and then prescribe two serums tuned to the client's profile.

The science press, including Chemistry World, noted the honest caveat: the serums contained no new active ingredients. The novelty was the matching — choosing which standard ingredients, and in what concentration, for each person.

The wrinkle-reduction figures came from the company's own clinical testing, not peer-reviewed independent trials. That matters: the "30%" claim was marketing built on in-house data, and the promise of beating one's "genetic destiny" ran ahead of the evidence.

Still, the launch was a milestone — the first serious attempt to bring consumer genetics into the beauty aisle, with a storefront on London's New Bond Street and a price tag (£600) to match. It foreshadowed a decade of DNA-personalized everything, even if the serum itself never transformed dermatology.