As people head to the beach this summer, very few if any, really
know how likely they are to develop skin cancer from their
outdoor fun. That's about to change, thanks to a new discovery
by an international team of scientists that makes it possible
for doctors to access people's personal risk for skin cancer. In
a new research report appearing online in The FASEB Journal
(http://www.fasebj.org), these researchers describe for the
first time the chain of molecular events that increase one's
risk of skin cancer. This discovery may lead to new tests that
access personal skin cancer risk as well as a new generation of
sunscreens that increase the skin's ability to protect itself
from the sun's damaging rays. "Our study heralds the onset of
personalized medicine for individuals who carry a change in the
MC1R gene," said Zalfa A. Abdel-Malek, Ph.D., a researcher
involved in the work from the Department of Dermatology at the
University of Cincinnati. "The data we have obtained allows us
to better predict which indiv