Skip to content

Melanin Effects, Not So Black and White

 

event

Wednesday
12 March 2008

19:00 - 20:30

The darker your skin is, the more of the sun-protective melanin pigment you have. The melanin molecule also exists in other parts of the body and could have other, as yet unknown, functions. But melanin is surrounded by controversy – and it’s not just about biology. A whole host of historical and social issues influence the way the biological effects of melanin are perceived and studied.

Could the amount of melanin you have affect your sensitivity to drugs or their detection in your body? What are the social implications of this? What is the research around melanin telling us? What motivates studies of melanin? And should more research be carried out on the effects of melanin by ethnically diverse scientists?

Come and discuss some of these questions and find out about the biology of melanin.

Event organised by:
The Science Museum

Speakers

Aggrey Burke, Chair, African-Caribbean Medical Association
Simon Spense, professional dynamic inspiration coach
Dorothy Bennett, Professor of Cell Biology, St George’s University
Antony Young, Head of Experimental Photobiology, King’s College

Facilitator: Deanne Naula, Outreach Officer, The Science Museum

comments

Sharron said:

Just wanted to say, well done for organising it, I think everybody learned something. The only frustrating thing was the broadness of the subject matter, and the limited time. I think next time pick an aspect of Melanin, eg Neuromelanin and behaviour and focus on that. Many thanks to all the speakers who took part.

Matthew said:

A very interesting evening was missed as the discussion deteriorated into race.

The chemistry of melanin is important in dermatology, ophthalmology &tc &tc. These topics were only touched upon. Why anyone can think of the skin classification system as racist is beyond me!

Dot Bennett said:

Someone said that it was a shame that the discussion did not do more to relate the social and the scientific aspects of melanin together. A comment on that: there is no scientific basis for connecting skin colour with ways of behaving, like "evil" or "good" . This is of course nothing to do with melanin. People with different skin colours are just adapted to different climates and amounts of sun.

More information on melanin? The Wikipedia article seems good.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanin

post comment