THE PROCESS of fermentation has been used to make alcohol for thousands of years. But now, thanks to developments in bioengineering, the same process - where a microbe such as yeast interacts with a sugar molecule - is being used to create large quantities of ingredients used in the beauty industry. This is important as rare natural ingredients can be squandered to make creams, while some ingredients damage the environment. For example, squalene, which is used in moisturiser, is traditionally collected from the livers of sharks, contributing to millions being killed every year.
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