A method that gives mice a tan without using ultraviolet radiation now works in human skin samples. It’s an early step in developing a lotion or cream that might provide fair-skinned folk with protection against skin cancer. 
 
 As reported June 13 in Cell Reports, a topical drug penetrated and tanned laboratory samples of live human skin, absent the sun. Unlike self-tanning lotions that essentially stain skin brown and provide minimal sun protection, the drug activates the production of the dark form of the skin pigment melanin, which absorbs UV radiation and diminishes damage to skin cells. 
 
 The team behind this study had worked with a different drug, the plant extract forskolin, in a 2006 study. The researchers used mice with skin like that of red-haired, fair-skinned people, who don’t tan because of a nonfunctioning protein on the surface of the skin cells that make melanin. ||||| Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 Scientists have developed a drug that mimics sunlight to make the skin tan, with no damaging UV radiation involved. 
 
 The drug tricks the skin into producing the brown form of the pigment melanin in tests on skin samples and mice. 
 
 Evidence suggests it will work even on redheads, who normally just burn in the sun. 
 
 The team at Massachusetts General Hospital hope their discovery could prevent skin cancer and even slow the appearance of ageing. 
 
 Potent tan 
 
 UV light makes the skin tan by causing damage. 
 
 This kicks off a chain of chemical reactions in the skin that ultimately leads to dark melanin - the body's natural sunblock - being made. 
 
 The drug is rubbed into the skin to skip the damage and kick-start the process of making melanin. 
 
 Dr David Fisher, one of the researchers, told the BBC News website: "It has a potent darkening effect. 
 
 "Under the microscope it's the real melanin, it really is activating the production of pigment in a UV-independent fashion." 
 
 Image copyright Nisma Mujahid and David Fisher Image caption The drug was tested on the skin sample on the right. 
 
 It is a markedly different approach to fake tan, which "paints" the skin without the protection from melanin, sun beds, which expose the skin to UV light or pills that claim to boost melanin production but still need UV light. 
 
 But the team is not motivated by making a new cosmetic. 
 
 Dr Fisher said the lack of progress in skin cancer - the most common type of cancer - was a "very significant frustration". 
 
 He added: "Our real goal is a novel strategy for protecting skin from UV radiation and cancer. 
 
 "Dark pigment is associated with a lower risk of all forms of skin cancer - that would be really huge." 
 
 Tests, detailed in the journal Cell Reports, have shown the melanin produced by the drug was able to block harmful UV rays. 
 
 Eventually the scientists want to combine their drug with sun-cream to give maximum protection from solar radiation. 
 
 Dr Fisher said everyone should "absolutely" use sun-cream but its weakness was it "keeps you pale". 
 
 Image copyright Getty Images 
 
 The way the drug works could also allow a ginger tan, as the genetic mutation that causes red hair and fair skin disrupts the normal process where UV light leads to dark melanin. 
 
 It is not yet clear if the drug might have the unintended consequence of affecting the glorious hair colour, but it is thought the hair follicle is too deep in the skin for the drug to reach. 
 
 But whether you are ginger, blonde or brunette, the drug is not yet ready for commercial use. 
 
 The researchers want to do more safety testing, although so far there has been "no hint of problems". 
 
 They will probably want to give it a better name than an SIK-inhibitor too. 
 
 Matthew Gass, from the British Association of Dermatologists, said the study was a "novel approach" to preventing skin cancer. 
 
 He added: "A lot more research has to be done before we see this sort of technology being used on humans, however, it's certainly an interesting proposition. 
 
 "Skin cancer rates in the UK are going through the roof... any research into ways that we can prevent people from developing skin cancer in the first place is to be welcomed." 
 
 Stopping UV damage could have an extra boon beyond cancer - slowing the appearance of ageing. 
 
 Dr Fisher's final piece of promise for the research is: "Many people would say the obvious and most dramatic sign of ageing is what skin looks like and even casual UV damage over the years causes damage. 
 
 "Medically it is very difficult to focus on, but if it is tremendously safe then it could keep skin healthier for longer." 
 
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 cientists hoping to harness melanin’s protective power against skin cancer have created a class of small molecules that could help the skin produce more UV-absorbing pigments. They tested those treatments on human skin samples in the lab, and found they were able to seep in and boost pigment production. 
 
 STAT chatted with study author and cancer researcher Dr. David Fisher about the work, published in Cell Reports. 
 
 What did you set out to study? 
 
 We know a lot about how pigmentation is made, so we looked for a way to find a small molecule chemical to stimulate pigmentation. We wanted to know whether it would be possible to activate real skin pigmentation without using radiation or the sun’s rays, which are damaging and dangerous. We discovered a class of compounds that have the ability to penetrate into the skin and trigger pigmentation. 
 
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 What do you see as the potential applications for those compounds? 
 
 We think it could offer protection. Having dark skin is associated with a really dramatically lower risk of developing skin cancer. Even individuals with just modestly darker skin have a significantly lower skin cancer risk than fair-skinned people who don’t tan, but burn. We don’t anticipate that a huge degree of darkening would be required for the protection. I’m seeing this from a cancer prevention perspective as something that would be used together with sunscreen. I would not see it as a replacement for sunscreen, because sunscreens really do prevent skin cancer. 
 
 A photograph of skin treated with a topical drug that induces pigmentation. Nisma Mujahid and David E. Fisher 
 
 What’s the next step in the research? 
 
 The safety would need to be established and tested. I think probably where it would be tested first would be in individuals who are at the highest risk for developing skin cancer.
– Good news for the fair-skinned among us: Scientists in Massachusetts have developed a drug that darkens and protects human skin without the damaging effects of ultraviolet (UV) light. Dr. David Fisher, a researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells the BBC the drug initiates a series of chemical reactions that enables skin to produce sun-blocking dark melanin without exposure to dangerous UV light—which initiates the same chemical reactions, but only after damaging the skin. "Under the microscope it's the real melanin,” Fisher says. “It really is activating the production of pigment in a UV-independent fashion." The drug could be a good thing even for people who don't crave a tan: Dark pigment provides a protective barrier against UV radiation, reducing the risk of skin cancer. In an interview with STAT, Fisher says the next step will be to test the drug’s safety, with the first test subjects most likely being "individuals who are at the highest risk for developing skin cancer.” If further tests prove successful the new drug could prove to be a substitute for other self-tanning activities, like lotions, which essentially paint the skin but provide no melanin protection, and tanning beds, which expose the skin to harmful UV rays and can thus be risky. Still, according to Science News, the drug would not, on its own, be considered a substitute for sunscreen, which blocks UV rays but has the counteractive effect of leaving skin pale and vulnerable. Ideally, Dr. Fisher says, the drug would be combined with sunscreen in a single product.