MadSci Network: Medicine |
Zim: I am not aware of any artificial model or cell model that are representative to be used to test dermal cleansers. There are tissue culture models for skin but these would unlikely be stable when treated with the cleansers (and are difficult to maintain). I suppose you could culture the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes (ATCC 6919) on a plate and study whether a pad soaked with the cleanser had any impact on growth. I have also seen cow udder used as a model for skin, but it could not also have acne. Lastly there are animal models (rats, etc.) but again these are difficult to maintain, expensive, and likely not something your school could support. So, I think you may be stuck. Perhaps you have some classmates that would agree to using one of the skin cleaners according to the users instructions on one-half of their face and nothing on the other half (controlled study). Then you could photograph the results on a daily basis for a few weeks and compare what happens...
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