South Plainfield, NJ, 10 October 2014 -- Philip Ludwig, Manager for Global Product Development and Applications at Lonza Consumer Care, will present "Rice Meristem Cultures Protect, Rejuvenate and Repair Skin at the Epigenetic, Protein, and Macro Level” at the IFSCC 28th Congress to be held from 27 – 30 October in Paris.

A key developer of Lonza’s ReGeniStem™ Red Rice anti-aging skin treatment, Mr. Ludwig will share the details of an in vivo assay and how an application of the rice culture has multiple visible benefits at the macro level, including increasing barrier function and skin hydration.

As cells become older, they are no longer able to regulate their genes and processes as well as they did when they were young. One of the mechanisms by which cells control gene expression is epigenetics. Epigenetic regulation is achieved through promoter DNA methylation. Unfortunately, as cells age, this regulation is no longer finely tuned and promoter DNA methylation levels increase. Plants have the unique ability to easily switch from aged, differentiated cells into seemingly young, undifferentiated cells -- a principle at work in the Red Rice-based treatment.

At Lonza Consumer Care, Mr. Ludwig develops new botanical extracts, grows plant tissue cultures that produce exciting new actives, and leads his team to find efficacious and novel microbial ferments, purified phytochemicals and synthetic chemistries. Mr. Ludwig has earned multiple patents relating to new personal care ingredients and has been a featured speaker at over a dozen industry events and seminars. His most recent two products, ReGeniStem™ Red Rice and the Vivillume™ product, have won four international awards for being the most innovative cosmetic ingredient (two years in a row at In-Cos Asia), for being the best anti-aging innovative product (PCHi Shanghai), and being one of the four best new cosmetic ingredients (In-Cos Europe).

Mr. Ludwig holds a BA in Biology from Grinnell College, IA (USA), and a Masters in Cell and Molecular Biology from Michigan State University in the United States. Prior to joining Lonza, Mr. Ludwig worked with Ball Horticulture in Chicago and created new nutraceutical ingredients extracted from plants bred specifically by the company. He has a passion for botany and a collection of more than 80 plants.

Attendees can visit Lonza’s Stand #5 at the IFSCC Congress to learn more about what’s new at Lonza.