The problem of skin color is one of the most interesting topics in Jackson's public opinion. The Beijing News Illustration / Zhao Bin Michael Jackson's death has triggered saliva from various fields: the cause of death, heritage issues, copyright of works, life gossip... all are hot topics at the moment. The "pop song god" is also considered to have died vigorously. However, the topic of the last show of superstars has left us with more than this. Let us now talk about the three scientific topics surrounding the death of Michael Jackson.
Topic 1
Can the skin be bleached?
Jackson's skin color change has been questioned and discussed for more than a decade. Can the skin be bleached?
Melanin's "work" and "over"
Melanin in the skin is synthesized by melanocytes. In melanocytes, tyrosinase synthesizes tyrosine into a substance called “dopaâ€. Dopa reacts with cysteine ​​to produce melanin. Tyrosinase is therefore the most critical factor in the synthesis of melanin. Subsequently, melanin is transported to epidermal cells and piled up like bricks to protect DNA from UV rays. UV can activate tyrosinase activity and promote more melanin synthesis. Therefore, the synthesis of melanin in the skin is a kind of human self-protection mechanism.
Tyrosinase is the key to the synthesis of melanin, so most of the current skin whitening products are added to the cosmetics tyrosinase inhibitors, destroy tyrosinase activity, to reduce the purpose of melanin.
Hydroquinone was the most widely used whitening agent because it was cheap and effective. Later research found that it induced leukemia. Since 2001, Europe has banned the addition of hydroquinone to cosmetics. In addition, there are some chemicals that can also inhibit tyrosinase, some of which require mercury as a catalyst. Cosmetics companies are also looking for a variety of "natural" whitening agents. According to their research reports, some plant extracts also have the effect of inhibiting tyrosinase activity.
"High-tech" is also used in the whitening business. In 2007, a French company developed a whitening product containing antisense oligonucleotides. The researchers of the company's paper said that whitening products containing antisense oligonucleotides can inhibit the expression of tyrosinase gene in skin cells, achieving a whitening effect of 30%. However, antisense oligonucleotides generally do not easily enter cells. The real effect of this topical "gene therapy" method is unavoidable.