How To Get A Natural Tan Without The Sun..
September 25th 2006 06:57
Science Breakthrough: How to Get a Tan Without The Sun
Have you ever wondered if it’d be possible to obtain darker skin without going out in the sun, visiting the solarium or spraying yourself with artificial tanning lotions? Well it seems as though scientists have discovered the answer. The New Scientist has reported that a paint-on treatment has been developed that could possibly allow a real tan without the sun, and even for fair skin.
The plant extract ‘forskolin’ was able to protect lab mice from the sun’s UV rays and also allow them to develop a natural tan by stimulating the production of melanin – the pigment in the skin that colours it brown.
Many people with red hair and fair skin have a defect in a certain receptor that gives the body the ability to tan (called MC1R). This defect makes these people impossible to tan and prone to skin cancer. John D’Orazio of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, US, used depilated mice (with hair removed) with defective MC1Rs and applied forskolin to their skin, which restored their ability to produce melanin. When it was applied for four weeks before the mice were exposed to UV light, they were then able to tan.
D’Orazio says that because forskolin stimulates the production of melanin, it could give fair-skinned people a natural tan and also protect them from the sun. He adds that forskolin has also been sown to cause some tanning in mice with normal MC1Rs (i.e. with no defective MC1R receptors) which means all skin types could achieve sunless tanning.
So hopefully soon, all those poor fair-skinned people with, for example, UK ancestry (see yesterday’s post) can be offered some relief. After human clinical trials have been passed, it could be possible for the fairer of us to gain some protection from the sun, and of course get a great permanent natural tan too.
Image holds the GNU Free Documentation License
Have you ever wondered if it’d be possible to obtain darker skin without going out in the sun, visiting the solarium or spraying yourself with artificial tanning lotions? Well it seems as though scientists have discovered the answer. The New Scientist has reported that a paint-on treatment has been developed that could possibly allow a real tan without the sun, and even for fair skin.
The plant extract ‘forskolin’ was able to protect lab mice from the sun’s UV rays and also allow them to develop a natural tan by stimulating the production of melanin – the pigment in the skin that colours it brown.
Will the need for beach umbrellas become a thing of the past?
Many people with red hair and fair skin have a defect in a certain receptor that gives the body the ability to tan (called MC1R). This defect makes these people impossible to tan and prone to skin cancer. John D’Orazio of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, US, used depilated mice (with hair removed) with defective MC1Rs and applied forskolin to their skin, which restored their ability to produce melanin. When it was applied for four weeks before the mice were exposed to UV light, they were then able to tan.
D’Orazio says that because forskolin stimulates the production of melanin, it could give fair-skinned people a natural tan and also protect them from the sun. He adds that forskolin has also been sown to cause some tanning in mice with normal MC1Rs (i.e. with no defective MC1R receptors) which means all skin types could achieve sunless tanning.
So hopefully soon, all those poor fair-skinned people with, for example, UK ancestry (see yesterday’s post) can be offered some relief. After human clinical trials have been passed, it could be possible for the fairer of us to gain some protection from the sun, and of course get a great permanent natural tan too.
Image holds the GNU Free Documentation License
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