In Patrick Süskind ’s 1985 novelPerfume , a psychotic perfumer hold up to homicidal lengths to create the ultimate scent . He defeat a young woman to incorporate her natural smell into his latest cologne – and he is himself later rip asunder by people driven into a state of bloodlust by the power of his creations . But the outer limits of personal beauty may no longer require us to drink down . Indeed , it ’s now possible to grow human flesh specifically for the cosmetic industry – bypassing execution with a misstep to the metier science lab .
Among the many “ fragile hybrids ” that a author for The New York Times of late regain “ thriving in the whacky climate of Provence , southern France ’s traditional scent neighborhood , ” were “ sweet jasmine , May roses – andfresh layers of stilted human skin . ”
One of the companies discussed in the clause uses an prompt combination of amino acid , collagen gel , sugar , water , and down levels of ultraviolet light to cook up ( and then “ air dry ” ) collections of fake skin . It ’s deserving mark that many of these skin laboratory are settle in Grasse , once a center for French leather - devising , complete with disused tanneries ( and now one of the world ’s fragrance capital ) . But I digress . Scientifically , the peel - making process seems to fall somewhere betweenFrankensteinand Campbell ’s newChunkysoup – by way of tardy Renaissance hermeticism – and , surreally , its real purpose is to rid of animal examination from the European cosmetics industry .
In other words , the creation of this “ artificial human skin ” has everything to do with an impendent EU prohibition on animate being examination . That prohibition , which comes into upshot in March 2009 , means that cosmetic companies will no longer be able to quiz their perfumes , eyeliners , and blemish creams on animals – so they ’re looking frantically for new things to range such tryout on .
One of those affair is fake human tegument .
The New York Times thus informs us that cosmetic house are “ striving to determine a young world of beauty research – and at the same time spare the life of thousands of rabbits , black eye , rats and dago cop . ”
All of this top confidential “ beauty research ” means that there are now “ advanced material ” entering the global market place – and these fabric include “ retrace eye tissue and tiny circles of peel develop from donor cells harvested from cosmetic operations . ” It ’s a whole new chapter in the global Hammond organ swap : a general economy of human dead body parts , broken down into germ telephone line and tissue paper .
smasher giantL’Oréalhas even devoted more than $ 800 million to finding “ option to fauna testing . ” After all , we take , the “ bet are high . ”
Europe is the world ’s leading cosmetics market place , and it also exports more than $ 23.4 billion worth of cosmetic every year . cosmetic export from the United States to Europe amount to nearly $ 2 billion a year , about 7 pct of the European market . After the United States , Japan is the second leading provider of cosmetic to Europe .
Because of increasing commercial insistency , professional alliances are now beginning to form between formerly vie cosmetic giants and private scientific discipline labs .
There is a unshakable calledSkinEthic , for illustration , that has been “ develop and manufacturing a pedigree of cellular tools that includes a wide range of human tissues . ” SkinEthic was bought by L’Oréal last year , an investment “ which propelled the parent company into a dominant location in the examination field , with two critical patents on reconstructed hide . ” Patented cutis ! Where intellectual property and the human body clash .
SkinEthic ’s various fields of research even include the frighteningly mention “ vaginal metabolic process ” – which makes me enquire if io9 ’s earlier look atmutant pussymight now have to be updated .
http://io9.com/scifi/teeth/mutant-pussy-bites-the-hand-that-pets-it-324743.php
In any case , as ornamental scientist continue to “ germinate ” entire fresh lines of human skin and the “ cellular prick ” that maintain them , are we merely witnessing the further denationalisation of human anatomy ? If there is a market in body futures , in other words , with whole newfangled types of specialty Hammond organ being developed in top confidential labs , then the cosmetic industry is surely one of that market ’s most interesting examples .
Perhaps implying that legendarily deranged Wisconsin consecutive killerEd Gein , the literal - life inspiration forLeatherface , had , in fact , been a fantast , we might yet find that the Michael Jacksons of tomorrow will simply FedEx themselves particular order of patented cutis – a sort of numb skin masquerade that you wear down to the Oscars ( “ Just where did you get that case ? ” nervous reporters require ) – to make the style statement of a life-time .
We ’ll plainly wear novel skin .
For now , though , these patented expanses of lab - develop flesh are being used as nothing but psychometric test swatches : Apply mascara or flush or a newfangled aroma and watch for allergic reactions . 4 - inch by 4 - inch squares of in the raw skin shiver under harsh fluorescent lights in unnoted factories outside Marseilles .
Or so the cosmetic company say . What else are they growing in their clime - controlled labs , where the manufacture of human anatomy can proceed without cause for alarm ? Given time , will we all learn of some new horror , like something out of H.P. Lovecraft ’s “ Herbert West , Reanimator , ” in which a panicked diarist records his midnight flight from another lab , an unacknowledged research lab located somewhere high in the Pyrenees , with moody mantle draw off over bulletproof windows , exact that those secret acres of phony peel have bulge to move , self - collection into a recognizable contour , something all too human to ignore … ?
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