Although it was well known that red-haired people were more vulnerable to UV light the new study, which was done on mice, proves the fact that the same pigment that offers hair its red color can stimulate skin cancer development.
Cancer biologist and the leader of this study, David Fisher, confirmed that the red-yellow pheomelanin is not as effective at protecting people’s skin against UV damage when compared to eumelanin, the black to brown pigment found in people with darker hair.
The shocking conclusion came only after the study team noticed half of the ginger mice they were going to use, developed melanoma before getting exposed to UV light. This suggests that the pigment itself can be a cause of melanoma. The albino mice did very well in the tests.
