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The answer is simple but of course it is also a bit nerdy.
Eighteen B (or as we write in our lab notebooks, “18B”) is the nickname that our scientists gave our proprietary ingredient, B-SILK™ PROTEIN
Hello, Lindsay Wray Here!
A common questions we all get is, “Why are you called Eighteen B?” The answer is simple but also a bit nerdy.
The short answer:
Eighteen B, or as we write in our lab notebooks, “18B” is the nickname our scientists have given our proprietary ingredient, B-SILK™ PROTEIN. When developing B-SILK PROTEIN, the team needed a quick and easy way to reference it. So they came up with “18B”.
Interestingly enough, this is all steeped in scientific origin. If you want to nerd out a bit more, continue reading. Disclaimer, if you didn’t know much about amino acids and polypeptides … you will by the end of this article. (If it isn’t already abundantly clear, this is one of our favorite topics!)
The long answer:
B-SILK PROTEIN is, well, a protein (also a polypeptide). Proteins by definition are a string of amino acids held together by a peptide bond (alas, polypeptide). There are 20 different kinds of amino acids in the human body. Did you know, the special pattern amino acids form, determines the protein’s functionality? True story.
B-SILK PROTEIN is made from ~1000 amino acids and the pattern that these amino acids form is what gives our proprietary ingredient its very special properties. The pattern is arranged into repeating blocks (“blocks” is where we get the “B” from) and there are eighteen of these blocks. Thus, “18B” our nickname and “Eighteen B” our company name.
For me, a picture is worth a thousand words. The image above is a figure that I hope helps to illustrate everything I am talking about here. If we zoom out on the protein, you can see eighteen repeating blocks (there are 18 orange and green blocks – count ‘em).
Now zoom in on one of these blocks, and we see the orange section is a jumble of letters. Gs (Glycine), Ys (Tyrosine), As (Alananine), Ps (Proline), etc. You can reference the table below for more detail on which letters correspond to which amino acids. This combination of amino acids is really stretchy and elastic – it is also what makes our polypeptide, B-SILK PROTEIN so special.
In the green section we see a string of As. This combination of As is really strong. Ever wonder why we say that B-SILK PROTEIN combines the powers of elastic and collagen into one? The orange section gives B-SILK PROTEIN elasticity and the green section gives B-SILK PROTEIN strength. You will be hard pressed to find another protein with this cool-of-a-combo!
Amino Acid Cheat Sheet
I hope this was a fun read. In the future, I will talk more about amino acids, proteins, polypeptides, the future of material science and how we’re planning to disrupt the skincare business, so stay tuned.
It’s always great to hear from you, so shoot me any questions on IG @lindsaywrayphd.
Thanks, Lindsay Wray
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