MELANIN

I found out some neat things about melanin this week, and just thought I'd pass it on. In case you don't already know, melanin is the main pigment which comprises your skin color (your hair color too, but today I'm talking about skin). What's interesting is that all humans produce the same relative number of melanocytes (melanin producing cells), regardless of their skin color. What counts in determining skin color is the relative kind and amount of melanin made and retained. Darker skinned people produce many more and darker melanin pigments than do fair skinned people, and these pigments are retained longer by the keratin cells in the skin. Another interesting thing is that melanin is a major player in protecting us from UV rays. Your melanin producing cells send out melanin pigments in vesicles that migrate toward keratin cells in your skin. Once located, these vesicles hover over the keratin cells, protecting them from the sun by absorbing light and dissipating it off as heat. By doing this, melanin is protecting the DNA in the keratin cells from becoming damaged and mutated, which can cause some types of skin cancer. Other pigments that contribute to skin color are carotene, from the foods you eat (yes, you can turn yourself orange by eating too many carrots!), and hemoglobin from your blood, which gives fair skinned people a pinkish tint!