Category: Skincare

Researchers have discovered that mouse skin and skin cells from humans produce pigmentation in response to sunlight on a 48-hour cycle. They observed that exposing skin to ultraviolet light every 2 days yielded darker pigmentation with less radiation damage than daily exposure. The findings appear October 25 in the journal Molecular Cell. “The damaging effects of high doses of ultraviolet rays are known, but we were curious to see the effect of exposure frequency on skin,” says senior author Carmit Levy, a molecular geneticist at Tel Aviv University. “It turns out…

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Farmers are exposed to toxic pesticides, through skin contact and inhalation, during the spraying of pesticides. This is a severe health hazard. In the last year, from the Vidharbha region in Maharashtra alone, spraying is thought to have led to over 40 deaths, 25 cases of lost vision, and over 1000 hospitalizations. This is just one example demonstrating the severity of this unmet need. Despite this need, at present, no single technology exists to chemically deactivate pesticides on the skin to protect farmers from pesticide exposure. Organophosphates, are a major…

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By combining data on individuals’ lifetime sun exposure and their genetics, researchers can generate improved predictions of their risk of skin cancer, according to findings presented at the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) 2018 Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif. Pierre Fontanillas, PhD, and colleagues at 23andMe, Inc., collected genetic and survey data from over 210,000 consented research participants of European descent. They analyzed the data to identify correlations between previously known and potentially novel skin cancer risk factors and the occurrence of three forms of skin cancer: melanoma,…

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Infants born at home have more diverse bacteria in their guts and feces, which may affect their developing immunity and metabolism, according to a study in Scientific Reports. Understanding why babies born at home have more diverse microbiota for at least a month after birth, compared with those born in a hospital, could help prevent disease later in life. The human microbiome consists of trillions of bacteria, fungi and viruses that live on and in our bodies, many of which benefit our health and prevent chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes,…

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James Cook University scientists in Australia have found material commonly used for fish allergy testing is unreliable — potentially putting lives at risk. A team led by PhD candidate Thimo Ruethers from JCU’s Australian Institute for Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) evaluated 26 commercially available fish preparations used for skin prick testing, the most common way of diagnosing fish allergy in Australia. “We found the amount of allergens present varied greatly, and in some preparations major fish allergens could not be detected. This means many skin prick tests that show…

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