Queensland research lays foundation for super sunscreen deve

Results from a study by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology’s AusSun research laboratory in Australia may help develop ‘super sunscreens’ to repair sun damaged skin. The study, funded by advocacy organisation Cancer Council Queensland, exposed 57 participants to mild ultraviolet spot burning. Researchers took biopsies before and after the UV exposure and with and without sunscreen application. The researchers found that there was no DNA damage nor damage to the p53 gene crucial to skin regeneration in the areas covered by sunscreen.

According to lead researcher, and member of the university’s Institute of Health Biomedical Innovation Elke Hacker, molecular changes to the skin have been linked to all three types of skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma) and the study provided a baseline measurement of molecular responses to UV exposure.

"As soon as our skin becomes sun damaged, the p53 gene goes to work repairing that damage, thereby preventing skin cancer occurring…but over time if skin is burnt regularly the p53 gene mutates and can no longer do the job it was intended for. It no longer repairs sun damaged skin and without this protection skin cancers are far more likely to occur," said Dr Hacker.