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A genomic study of skin cells shows that there’s a wide range in the normal number of somatic mutations that arise from exposure to UV light and that these mutations are independent of age. The work, which was published today (January 14) in PLOS Genetics, also confirms that darker skin is more protected from UV-related mutations—something that scientists have long suspected.
Researchers “have this idea that the pigment protects you from the DNA damage that sunlight causes, and that’s something they really nicely show,” says Ruben van Boxtel, a cancer biologist at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology in the Netherlands who did not participate in the work. Previous sequencing efforts have mostly been done in Caucasians, he adds, but these authors include samples from people with darker skin.
When Natalie Saini joined Dmitry Gordenin’s lab at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in ...
