The Science Behind Sequential Skin

Just a small bit of DNA can tell us a lot about you. Sequential Skin uses advanced genetic sequencing technology to understand how your genes, your skin microbiome, and your environment interact, to give your skin the characteristics it has.

Your Nature

The human genome has millions of genetic variations (‘variants’) that differentiate us from one another. We make accurate assessments of the traits you possess based on your unique genetic variant, and how they physically present in your body. We evaluate how these unique gene variants correspond with what traits your skin may have now or in the future (on re-testing).

Our skin microbiome is made up of a whole ecosystem of different bacteria, fungi, and viruses that help maintain our wellbeing. The skin microbiome is largely impacted by our external environment, which means it is ever-changing and adapting to different elements constantly. It’s also influenced by internal factors, so it is completely unique to each of us. It is as important to our health as our gut microbiome.

The Science

Our Sequential Skin patch (patent-pending) is specifically designed to collect a comprehensive sample of skin cells and bacteria cells, to assess your genetics and microbiome accurately.

Through their R&D, Sequential Skin uses world-leading next-generation sequencing technology – Illumina and Oxford Nanopore Technologies to get a clear view of the DNA of your skin. These two technologies sequence entire genomes (for our case, human and bacterial) to look at the relevant genetic (your ‘nature’) and microbiome (your ‘nurture’) targets up close.

Once a sample is collected, Sequential Skin uses a method known as quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) that looks at specific markers (for both human and bacteria DNA) to identify what unique variants you carry and how they impact how certain genes are expressed.

The specific genes Sequential Skin looks at are considered the most relevant in determining six key skin traits, according to past research and peer-reviewed publications.