The risks around sunbathing are well known and documented, but the yearning for tanned skin shows no signs of abating. Luckily, a new cream has been formulated that will mimic the look of tanned skin but without damaging it.
Scientists believe they have found a way to trigger the process of tanning within the skin without it being placed under the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The study, which comes from the chairman of dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital Dr David Fisher’s new publication Cell Reports, says that after discovering that certain genes (i.e. those with red hair and extremely pale skin) fail to tan they were able to understand how skin cells darken outside of UV rays. Sadly, mice were tested on in the process of this report, but the discovery Dr Fisher hopes the research will help make sunscreens more efficient.
Dr David Fisher told the BBC: ‘It has a potent darkening effect. Under the microscope it’s the real melanin, it really is activating the production of pigment in a UV-independent fashion.’
Other than creating the look of tanned skin, this new wonder cream can mimic the melanin that tanned skin uses to protect itself from UV rays. In other words, the skin looks darker and is, therefore, able to form a more efficient barrier from the sun’s radiation. Dr Fisher hopes that combining this new product with suncream can help fight skin cancer by creating a natural defence system using melanin.
'There is unequivocal evidence that sunscreens are protective against several types of skin cancer,' he told TIME magazine, 'But there is also unequivocal evidence that they are not enough. Just look at the data — skin is the most common site of cancer in people despite the embarrassing fact that U.S. is broadly recognised as a cause in all common forms of skin cancer. We haven’t conquered this problem. So the concept of combining the darkening agent with a UV blocking agent might provide a whole new dimension of protection.'
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