“Cell-free biomanufacturing is not science fiction: it is here,” says L’Oreal’s Barbara Lavernos deputy chief executive officer in charge of research, innovation and technology, on the beauty giant’s investment in Debut Biotechnology, Inc. to drive development of sustainable, next-generation active ingredients for cosmetics. More news in brief.

L’Oreal, Kao and Unilever have partnered with Genomatica, Inc. (Geno) to develop sustainable surfactants by replacing feedstocks such as palm oil and fossil fuels with biotech alternatives.

“The aim is to co-design an approach that is brand-agnostic, and which provides consumers with clear, transparent and comparable environmental impact information, based on a common science-based methodology,” say Henkel, L’Oreal, LVMH, Natura, and Unilever in a recent release.