Download Sun exposure is very harmful and can lead to serious and painful

I am sure you can remember a time when your mother yelled at you to put sunscreen on before
going outside. Well, she was right. Sun exposure is very harmful and can lead to serious and painful
skin burns that do more than just cause you pain. Sunlight can damage both the external and deeper
layers of the skin, and can lead to diseases such as skin cancer.
The major cause of skin cancer is the exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation which is found in
sunlight. These levels are increasing due to depletion of the ozone layer, climate change and lifestyle
factors such as increased sun holidays and the use of sunbeds.
UV penetrates deeply into the skin and it is an important factor in the development of skin cancer.
UV radiation can cause damage to cellular DNA. DNA is the “information carrier” of the cell and
damage to the DNA can lead to cancer.
To protect the cellular DNA, the deeper layers of the skin contain cells called melanocytes that
produce melanin – a pigment which is primarily responsible for the colour of the skin. Increased
production of this pigment helps to protect skin cells against the damaging effects of the sun and
UV. It absorbs harmful UV-radiation and transforms the energy into harmless heat.
My project aims to investigate how melanocyte cells respond to UV radiation. I will use techniques
to study how the growth of these cells is affected when exposed to UV radiation.