Scientists discover chemical that triggers tan without the need for UV exposure

Scientists have created a chemical that can darken skin without the need for UV exposure, creating a real “fake” tan. Professor David Fisher and his team of scientists from the Massachusetts General Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, found that a small molecule, called an SIK (salt-inducible kinases) inhibitor, could be used to artificially switch the melanin production process on, without the need for sunbathing or a genetic predisposition for tanning.

The team set out to create a class of SIK-inhibiting molecules specially designed to penetrate the skin and trigger the dark pigment, weighing less and having a greater ability to dissolve and permeate through the membrane’s lipids – meaning it has a higher lipid solubility. When tested in a laboratory culture of human skin, the scientists found that the more molecules applied, the more the skin darkened, and that the artificially induced tan lasted for several days. The substance could even induce a tan in fair-skinned individuals, with Fisher commenting: “It would not actually be a fake tan, it would be the real thing.”

When a stronger dose of the molecules was applied to the skin of red-haired mice, they turned almost completely black in one to two days, with the artificial tan wearing off after a few days as the skin cells renewed themselves.

So far, the product has only been tested on mice and skin samples in petri dishes, but the team hope to come up with a compound that could be used together with normal sunscreens. The study has been published in the Cell Reports journal.