The Effect Of UV On Melanin | Colour the Spectrum Of Science | BBC Science

Some wavelengths of UV are essential to the human body, in order to promote the production of vitamin D in our skin. But with different levels of UV in different places how has the human skin colour adapted throughout generations and across the world?
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[@Hokunin]

they didn't mention the most interesting fact. Completely different genes are responsible for light skin feature between whites and asians, they developed light skin independently from each other. which means that natural selection was brutal in prehistoric times.

[@stephanieyee9784]

What do you mean by "Asian"? If you are British I think you mean subcontinental which is basically Indian. As a person of Chinese ie Asian descent to me Asians are what used to be referred to as Oriental. All of my Nepali friends call Indian looking people Subcontinental. I'm just curious. I work with many Asians from various countries eg China, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos etc and a lot of Subcontinental people too. Indians, Bangladeshis, Nepali, Sri Lankan, and Pakistanis. None of the second group call themselves Asian.

[@janepage3608]

⁠@@stephanieyee9784When I was at school we were told there were five continents: Africa, America, Australia, Asia, Europe. At that level, the Indian subcontinent is still part of Asia. I wouldn’t want to be described as French but I’m happy to be European.

[@joyhappiness]

@@janepage3608 what kinda assbackwards logic...

[@redbluequark]

(​@@stephanieyee9784

[@redbluequark]

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[@NumaanQayoom]

You should see my skin. I have two colored arms. I come from Kashmir. In winter my skin brightens like I am a European and summer makes me dark. Even sunscreen does not help much, may be i am applying less. But astonishing fact is when I come to Dubai which is at lower hight as compared to Kashmir, my skin does not darken even in summer. I guess higher I go from sea level the UV index increases.

[@janepage3608]

That’s interesting. Yes, more UV in the heights of Kashmir so you need more protection from it.

[@pjacobsen1000]

Certainly, if you're from the higher parts of Kashmir, like Leh or Zanskar, the sun is much stronger there than in the Middle East.

[@user-yh1qd7lj5f]

me too from kashmir (machil valley) and same happend with me, i worked in saudi arabia for 2 years and my skin becomes white meanwhile when i am in village in kashmir during summers it becomes brown, when i remove shirt my skin had white and brown difference and in winters my whole body skin becomes white and pink

[@user-yh1qd7lj5f]

@@pjacobsen1000 it is lie, leh and zanskar are cold but people become dark when visit there, saudi arabia is hot but people become white there

[@pjacobsen1000]

@@user-yh1qd7lj5f Yes, that's what I'm saying. You are misunderstanding my comment.

[@meagain3876]

Another fascinating article from the BBC. Thank you (I've missed seeing the programme the clip was taken from - I will attempt to find it, as I'm sure it's worth watching)

[@alyssaoconnor]

I’ve found this to be something to be aware of as a darker pigmented person raised in a cold temperate climate, the risks of melanoma vs continuous vit D deficiency. One of my children who has my exact pigmentation is already being treated for extremely low vit D levels at 13. I’m glad that knowledge about this is becoming more common, schools in my country are having more classes in an outdoor environment ect, to reduce the mass immune health risk we are heading into.

[@alyssaoconnor]

Free Vit D for people affected could be a policy that reduces future health complications, just as my country subsidises sun block to reduce melanoma risks.

[@user-zt5xz5fz4q]

BBC EARTH SCIENCE.❤.

[@drew-shourd]

brilliant

[@mellow-jello]

Thanks for explaining my sharp contrast in changing melanin throughout the seasons. I tend to look Phillipino in the summer, and Korean in the winter.

[@Damianmarleyfan]

Always get an old school camera to record those UV beams, put em on a secure cloud storage 😂

[@erm12341]

according to the map there is more uv radiation in east African than in west africa , but people in west africa have darker skin tone than east african people , why is that ?

[@sundiataq]

There is a very large range of skin tones in both East and West Africa, and Nilotes and Cushitic peoples generally speaking have very dark skin tones, while some of the lighter skinned populations of the region have some West Asian admixture dating to the last few thousand to few hundred years ago. Many modern West African populations are also a result of mixing between aboriginal forest dwellers and Sahelian and Saharan influxes from regions with higher UV radiation over the past few millennia.

[@peter320vn]

Eastern African are mixed with Middle Eastern

[@etherean369]

UV peaks in South Sudan area and along the Nile if you observe the photos. That's home to Nilotes, and we're the darkest there is😁 The other areas have dramatically lower UV and that's why you have Ethiopians and Nubians with Middle East admixture. Then in places like central & Eastern Kenya ....and even WESTERN Kenya we have extremely fair skinned Bantus who came from Southern Africa just a few years hundred years ago! The light Bantu in Eastern Kenya live in a semi arid area.... showing how big the UV difference is even in a tiny country.

[@etherean369]

​@@peter320vnnot all many Nilotes without any admixture live there and the super high uv is consistent with that. Many light skinned people in EA came from Southern Africa...the rest live in Ethiopian Highlands with dramatically lower UV.

[@ekananda9591]

What do you mean by West African? I think Moroccan have similar skin tone with Egyptian

[@huldu]

How does this affect the more modern humans that wear clothing which I'm guessing was never the intent? Does it have any impact at all or is this something that would take many generations before we start seeing the effects?

[@DodderingOldMan]

Well, I for one have been dignosed with a vitamin D deficiency. This is largely because, as I have incredibly pale skin and live in a relatively hot climate, I avoid the sun as much as possible, but if I was walking around naked, yeah, that would probably be a different story. Thing is, though, thanks to modern medicine I was just able to take some vitamin D tablets, so the deficiency had no impact on my chances of reproducing, which is what's required for evolutionary change to happen. In many, many ways humans have sidestepped evolutionary pressures through our technology.

[@phoenixjim0527]

How is melanin connected to fast twitch muscle fiber?

[@mamotalemankoe3775]

It's not related

[@kreativeforce532]

those who have more melanin have more fast twitch muscle fiber.

[@varoonnone7159]

I'm of north indian origins and light skinned but my hands are way more fairer than my face I always thought it was because I wash them more frequently

[@josedavidgarcesceballos7]

How the use of sun block is affecting this natural adaptations? You know, epigenetics. Cheers.

[@etherean369]

I wish there was more research into African fair skin....I think it's really interesting that many with really fair skin sometimes have wavy instead of coily hair. It's obvious many of them have ancestors who migrated recently so I wonder if they'll adapt woth getting more melanin or simply stop being light

[@kreativeforce532]

​@@hifiphono887 she said African not confused people who fell from the sky. KhoiSan are not "mixed". However they do have kinky hair so that assessment was incorrect.

[@sandrider1406]

How do I increase my melanin?

[@kreativeforce532]

pay reparations.

[@Layput]

Go out in the sun

[@Lunar_h1]

​@@kreativeforce532 😅 what about the melanin people who didn't pay the due reparations in first place ?

[@Ravenelvenlady]

@kreativeforce532 😄✊🏾💖

[@user-bk4il5pf2g]

It’s called carbonated melanin… From the cosmos

[@ItzHarryTs]

We all have the same origin and we spread across the globe. Based on UV, food and environment, we changed to who we are today. BBC Science, correct me if I am wrong.

[@AlyxGlide]

y trade skin carcinoma for vitamin D when we can eat vitamin D?

[@rosmarbal]

This is new? I mean... everyone already knew this, right?

[@dbus1635]

Its because of the latest misinformation put out by the ant-sunscreen movement.

[@IvanLuelmo]

That map missed the darker skin of real north Americans.

[@drapakdave]

And indigenous people of Australia, too

[@kreativeforce532]

no its accurate. they are a very very light brown. go to a reservation some time.

[@531c]

Red indians

[@maryjs4878]

​@@531c Don't say Red indians

[@nornormand3041]

All hearts have the same color!

[@oKOMAPo]

False, depending on how healthy you are, your heart colour might look different. Also water is wet!

[@ibrahim_413]

Nope

[@axxa5000]

And?

[@mark-ish]

​@oKOMAPo well done for outing yourself as that dunce who doesn't get it.

[@AntTonyLOLKID]

Yeh just the skin their talking about

[@jan-pcro]

Is that really new for anybody?! I am confused, that is absolut common knowledge for me an my hood.

[@alberteinsteinthejew]

What has changed was not only the skin color, was it? Just look at their different faces

[@c0mputer]

Well this video is about melanin. You want them to list all the things that make humans unique?

[@KeiKreatrix]

I love how they emphasize on the fact that our ancestors had more exposure to sun meaning they were darker, skinned, ding, ding ding we reside from Dark skinned people. And white people came many generations after.

[@The_Hagseed]

Out of all the people you could've picked, you ended up finding the Clearasil Kid. Somebody buy him some soap!

[@gogreengameon2146]

Exactly what I was thinking! I thought they only had Clearsil in the UK lol! Brought back secondary school memories 😂👍

[@AminaPhilosophy]

This happens alot to Blk models, actors or random people interviewed by journalists. They choose the least attractive and least articulate person to represent Blk people.

[@markedis5902]

Getting that row of people without anyone saying racist is quite a feat

[@jan-pcro]

I am sure the context is the solution :)

[@RottenMuLoT]

Ouch. This video raises many misinformation points and scientific red flags in my book. The BBC disapoints me greatly here.

[@marbleking1307]

But Greenlanders and Inuit are dark skinned. How come?

[@The_Hagseed]

Easy answer. Those areas aren't exactly known for their forests, so not a lot of shade to go around. Large tundras of ice means a lot reflected UV rays. (It's why skiers and snowboarders where sunblock-.it's way easier to cook yourself out in the snow than you might think). Plus we're talking about ancestors of darker haired, darker skinned people from east Asia that crossed the Bering Straight ice bridge. When they did that, the blonde hair, blue eyes mutation in the Nordic countries probably hadn't even taken off yet, and by the time it did, the ice bridge was gone, cementing certain features into the first natives of those lands.

[@circuloviciosamente]

@@The_Hagseed @lycaonpictus4433 Said: "If you get enough vitamin D from food there's no significant pressure for getting lighter skin tone.If you get enough vitamin D from food there's no significant pressure for getting lighter skin tone."

[@elephantman2112]

Glare from the ice. You can easily get sunburned there.

[@etherean369]

Doesn't snow reflect UV a lot? And native Greenlanders look pretty fair skinned unless I've only seen a few

[@mamotalemankoe3775]

​Is that a thing? Wow.