The sunscreen of the future? Scientists develop a skin cream that heals sun damage as it happens

Scientists have created a skin cream that treats sun damage as soon as it occurs, and prevents the process that causes wrinkles.

Researchers say it’s a next-generation sun cream that not only protects against sunburn, but quickly repairs low-level damage done to the skin by the sun in real time.

The cream contains a synthetic version of melanin, the natural molecule inside the skin that most people know causes sun tanning, but also heals the skin after exposure to the sun.

In fact, scientists have created “supermelanin” in the laboratory that works even better.

Used in a skin cream, it captures and neutralizes harmful “free radicals” – molecules in the body stimulated by ultraviolet rays from the sun that can destroy collagen needed for plump, vibrant, youthful skin.

When used for a long time, the cream can prevent sagging, fine lines and wrinkles that appear on people’s faces after years of exposure to the sun.

Dr Kurt Law, a member of the scientific team behind the breakthrough, and a dermatologist and skin biologist from Northwestern University in the US, said: “Many people try sunburn treatments to soothe the pain, or cream to reduce inflammation.

But there was no Anything before that to repair damage to the skin caused by the sun.

“This repair is necessary on an ongoing basis because if you walk barefoot every day in the sun, you experience constant bombardment of low-grade UV rays.”

“We set out to find a scientific solution to a problem that has no existing solution: sun damage to the skin,” said Professor Nathan Giannishi, a bioengineer and chemical engineer at Northwestern University who helped create Supermelanin.

“When it comes to face creams that claim to treat the effects of sun-aging, there is a lot of hype and hope.

He added: “But we have a cream based on science that can continuously repair the skin while it is exposed to sunlight, and we hope it will be available for daily use within 18 months.”

Researchers say it’s a next-generation sun cream that not only protects against sunburn, but quickly repairs low-level sun damage to the skin in real time (stock image)

The researchers tested supermelanin mixed with water, then applied it to skin donated by 10 people who had undergone plastic surgery.

The skin has been treated with a drug designed to cause blistering, such as those that appear from severe sun damage that causes sunburn.

When the super-melanin skin cream was applied to the 10 skin samples, half of them showed no pimples.

This was compared to skin samples that were not treated with the cream, which all showed damage.

This is evidence that synthetic melanin can prevent and repair skin damage, although more research is needed using cream applied directly to people’s faces and bodies.

Further evidence that the cream can help skin heal faster from real-time sun damage came from its use on the skin of mice exposed to ultraviolet rays such as sunlight.

Just like melanin in the skin, the cream responds to the way the sun’s ultraviolet light causes certain molecules within the body to convert into chemically active ‘free radicals’ – which then bounce around harmful building blocks in the skin including cells and proteins.

Melanin neutralizes these free radicals, quickly stopping this damage.

It is hoped that it will prevent free radicals from breaking down the collagen scaffolding found under the skin – preventing the loss of some collagen as we age leading to sagging and wrinkles.

It can also stop free radicals that damage DNA in skin cells, thus reducing the risk of skin cancer after decades of sun exposure, although more evidence for this is needed.

Experts hope the same cream will help skin heal from chemical burns, which also lead to a deluge of free radicals, or from radiation used to treat cancer.

It can also help address the effects of everyday pollutants that lead to skin aging, such as car exhaust fumes.

“Super Melanin” is designed to be more absorbent and sponge-like in structure than the body’s existing melanin, so it can absorb more free radicals.

When the body reaches the maximum amount of sun damage that can be repaired naturally, a non-toxic cream can begin to treat the rest.

Researchers also say it appears to trigger a beneficial immune response in the body that further treats skin damage.

A study on this breakthrough was published in the journal Nature npj Regenerative Medicine.