NPR Covers Research from the ASRC

The Sunscreen of the Future

NPR Science Friday, 6.9.17

There's no perfect way to protect your skin from sun damage. Whether you must constantly lather with sunscreen or seem to defy burning depends on the pigment, or melanin, in your skin. Melanin produced by your body isn't something you can change at will. But a group of researchers have discovered a way to create a melanin-like substance in the lab that can be tuned to different shades-darker or lighter-and confers corresponding UV protection. Rein Ulijn is Director of the Nanoscience Initiative at the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center, CUNY in New York, New York.