The entire consumer conversation about collagen runs on one number: how much you have. Supplements promise to add it. Devices promise to stimulate it. Creams promise to preserve it. Amount is the currency.
A study published July 16 in ACS Nano suggests the currency may be wrong. Using an unusual pair of optical techniques on the same tissue slice, an international team led by Hiroshima University found that skin can maintain its collagen content and coverage while the molecular organization of that collagen falls apart underneath. Mass stayed. Order went. The two came apart entirely.
