A new skin-darkening drug spells good news for redheads. Picture: istock <\/p>\n
MOST fair-skinned redheads will know the pain of achieving a golden glow without harmful exposure to UV radiation or walking out of a salon looking like an oompa loompa. <\/p>\n
But there still might be hope yet researchers in the US have successfully darkened human skin cells grown in a petri-dish, providing an artificial tan that lasted for days. <\/p>\n
The Boston team have now tested the treatment on human skin and hope that it will one day be used with traditional sunscreens, potentially decreasing the incidence of skin cancer. <\/p>\n
Researchers hope the drug will one day replace sunbeds. Picture: ThinkstockSource:ThinkStock <\/p>\n
The drug, which is applied as a cream to the skin, generated a deep, cancer-protecting tan in red-haired mice. It worked by stimulating cells to produce more UV-absorbing pigments. <\/p>\n
When applied to the red-haired mice, they could become almost jet black in a day or two with a strong enough dose, researchers observed. <\/p>\n
The colour fades away over time as normal skin cells slough off the surface, and skin tone gets back to normal within a week or so. <\/p>\n
Like pale-skinned redheads, red-haired mice are also extremely susceptible to skin cancer through UV radiation. <\/p>\n
Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital developed the new skin treatment using a class of small molecules. <\/p>\n
The treatment of human breast skin explants with topical drug that induces pigmentation. Picture: Nisma Mujahid and David E. FisherSource:Supplied <\/p>\n
David E. Fisher, dermatology chief at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, said it was difficult to get the drug to penetrate human skin as a result of having tougher skin than mice. <\/p>\n
But ten years later, we have come up with a solution. Its a different class of compounds, that work by targeting a different enzyme that converges on the same pathway that leads to pigmentation, he said. <\/p>\n
The research team is continuing to test the safety of small molecules in animals before carrying out toxicity studies in humans. <\/p>\n
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New tanning drug darkens skin, could reduce incidence of skin-cancer - NEWS.com.au<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A new skin-darkening drug spells good news for redheads. Picture: istock MOST fair-skinned redheads will know the pain of achieving a golden glow without harmful exposure to UV radiation or walking out of a salon looking like an oompa loompa. But there still might be hope yet researchers in the US have successfully darkened human skin cells grown in a petri-dish, providing an artificial tan that lasted for days Continue reading