Stay safe in the sun: smear on some DNA from salmon sperm

SUNSCREEN made from DNA which acts like a second skin to prevent sun damage is on the horizon.

Scientists in the US have developed a film from the DNA of salmon which gets better at protecting the skin from ultraviolet light the more it is exposed to the sun. It also helps lock in moisture beneath the surface of the skin which is usually lost during tanning.

“Ultraviolet (UV) light can actually damage DNA, and that’s not good for the skin,” said Dr Guy German, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Binghamton University, New York. “We thought, let’s flip it. What happens instead if we actually used DNA as a sacrificial layer? So instead of damaging DNA within the skin, we damage a layer on top of the skin.”

The film was made from a mixture of the DNA from salmon sperm, water and ethanol to create sheets of a transparent crystalline material.

They found that the more they exposed the film to UV light, the better the film became at absorbing it. “If you translate that, it means to me that if you use this as a topical cream or sunscreen, the longer that you stay out on the beach, the better it gets at being a sunscreen,” said Dr German.

When applied to human skin, it is capable of slowing water evaporation and keeping the tissue hydrated for extended periods of time.

The team also wants to test whether the material could be useful as a wound covering. Because it is transparent, doctors would be able to monitor how well a wound was healing without removing the dressing.

“Not only do we think this might have applications for sunscreen and moisturisers directly, but if it’s optically transparent and prevents tissue damage from the sun and it’s good at keeping the skin hydrated, we think this might be potentially exploitable as a wound covering for extreme environments,” he added.

The research was published in the journal Scientific Reports.