Safer tanning?
Harvard researchers’ discovery of a molecular switch that turns off the natural process of skin pigmentation may lead to a novel way of protecting the skin — activating the tanning process without exposure to cancer-causing UV radiation. In their report in the journal Genes & Development, researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC) describe how blocking the action of the switch — an enzyme called PDE-4D3 — in the skin of mice led to a significant increase in melanin production. The study was led by David Fisher, Wigglesworth Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, director of the MGH Department of Dermatology, and an investigator at the CBRC. “The primary goal of inducing melanin production in human skin would be prevention of skin cancer, since all the common forms are known to be associated with UV exposure,” he said. “Not only would increased melanin directly block UV...