Skin can ‘see’ light to keep you feeling fine and tan-dy

A study revealed that skin has light-sensitive photoreceptors, previously only found in the eye.

It uses them to detect ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and release the protective tanning pigment melanin.

And reacting to sunlight by means of the photoreceptor takes less than a couple of hours the research shows, published in the journal Current Biology.

“As soon as you step out into the sun, your skin knows that it is exposed to UV radiation,” said study leader Elena Oancea, from Brown University in Providence, US.

“This process is faster than anything that was known before.

“Our findings show that the eyes and skin use similar molecular mechanisms to decode light.”