WHY WE THRIVE IN THE SUN ☀️
Sunlight can be pretty dangerous stuff because of its ultraviolet (UV) light.
UV light can do things like destroy folic acid or cause changes (mutations) in the DNA of some skin cells. Sometimes, these mutations can lead to skin cancer.
So darker skin is helpful when there is a lot of sunlight. But sunlight isn't all bad. Sunlight can help our bodies make vitamin D.
Everyone needs vitamin D and you have probably seen it in things like your milk. When we don't have enough vitamin D, it can cause problems with your bones.
Vitamin D deficiency can cause things like rickets or osteoporosis. It has even been linked to some types of cancer.
When our skin gets UV rays from the sun, our bodies use the UV light to make vitamin D.
But melanin in our skin acts like a filter, making it harder for people with more melanin (darker skin) to make vitamin D.
This means that the more melanin you have, the more sunshine you need to make enough vitamin D.
MORE HERE... https://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask288
The image you see is a Melanocyte, it is used to distribute melanin.
Melanin is made in these special cells called melanocytes... These cells are found in the epidermis of your skin.
There are at least three ways people can end up with different skin color.
One way is if people make less pigment. Less pigment = lighter skin.
Two is when people have fewer melanocytes... Fewer melanocytes mean less pigment overall and so lighter skin.
The third way is a bit more complicated and has to do with the kind of pigment someone makes.
There are two types of melanin... Eumelanin is black or brown pigment and pheomelanin is red or yellow pigment.
People who make lots of pheomelanin tend to have lighter skin, often because of freckling. Freckles happen when melanocytes clump together.
Melanocytes are usually spread pretty evenly in the skin. So when freckles form, some spots of the skin have lots of melanocytes (freckles) and other spots have few or none. Where there are no melanocytes, the skin is very fair.
Sunlight can be pretty dangerous stuff because of its ultraviolet (UV) light.
UV light can do things like destroy folic acid or cause changes (mutations) in the DNA of some skin cells. Sometimes, these mutations can lead to skin cancer.
So darker skin is helpful when there is a lot of sunlight. But sunlight isn't all bad. Sunlight can help our bodies make vitamin D.
Everyone needs vitamin D and you have probably seen it in things like your milk. When we don't have enough vitamin D, it can cause problems with your bones.
Vitamin D deficiency can cause things like rickets or osteoporosis. It has even been linked to some types of cancer.
When our skin gets UV rays from the sun, our bodies use the UV light to make vitamin D.
But melanin in our skin acts like a filter, making it harder for people with more melanin (darker skin) to make vitamin D.
This means that the more melanin you have, the more sunshine you need to make enough vitamin D.
MORE HERE... https://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask288
The image you see is a Melanocyte, it is used to distribute melanin.
Melanin is made in these special cells called melanocytes... These cells are found in the epidermis of your skin.
There are at least three ways people can end up with different skin color.
One way is if people make less pigment. Less pigment = lighter skin.
Two is when people have fewer melanocytes... Fewer melanocytes mean less pigment overall and so lighter skin.
The third way is a bit more complicated and has to do with the kind of pigment someone makes.
There are two types of melanin... Eumelanin is black or brown pigment and pheomelanin is red or yellow pigment.
People who make lots of pheomelanin tend to have lighter skin, often because of freckling. Freckles happen when melanocytes clump together.
Melanocytes are usually spread pretty evenly in the skin. So when freckles form, some spots of the skin have lots of melanocytes (freckles) and other spots have few or none. Where there are no melanocytes, the skin is very fair.
