{"id":72513,"date":"2025-11-08T14:08:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-08T08:38:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=72513"},"modified":"2025-11-08T15:30:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-08T10:00:15","slug":"melanin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/melanin\/","title":{"rendered":"Melanin"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Melanin Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melanin tells the tale of how our ancestors survived from the Sun&#8217;s heavy UV rays 50000 years back.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About Melanin<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melanin is a <\/span><b>natural pigment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> found in <\/span><b>most living organisms.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is present in human and animal skin to varying degrees, and is responsible for <\/span><b>your unique eye, hair and skin color.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melanin is produced within <\/span><b>special structures called melanosomes.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Melanosomes are found inside <\/span><b>melanin-producing<\/b> <b>pigment<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> cells called <\/span><b>melanocytes.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Types of Melanin<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Eumelanin:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is responsible for <\/span><b>brown and black shades<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of hair, skin, and eyes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Pheomelanin:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It produces <\/span><b>red or yellow hues<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 more common in people with red hair or lighter skin.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Neuromelanin: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is found in the brain, and develops from <\/span><b>the oxidation of dopamine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (a feel good chemical) and <\/span><b>noradrenaline<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (a fight-or-flight hormone)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Melanin-Related Skin Conditions<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Vitiligo:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is a condition where the <\/span><b>skin loses its pigment-producing cells<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leading to white patches.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Albinism:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0 It is a <\/span><b>genetic mutation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that prevents melanin production, resulting in pale skin, hair, and eyes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Hyperpigmentation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Excess melanin causes darker spots or patches, often due to sun exposure or hormones.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Role of Melanin<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Biological Shield:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It acts as a <\/span><b>biological shield,<\/b> <b>absorbing harmful ultraviolet rays<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and thereby protecting the skin from potential skin cancers like <\/span><b>melanoma, and various carcinomas<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Camouflage and Survival:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It helps animals to blend in with their <\/span><b>environment via camouflage.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> This ability is very crucial for both <\/span><b>predator and prey.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Thermoregulation: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0It also <\/span><b>helps in thermoregulation<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, controlling heat loss and generation through mechanisms like sweating.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/more-than-just-a-pigment-what-is-melanin\/article70252181.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melanin is a natural pigment found in most living organisms.  Read more about Melanin, Meaning, Types, Conditions, Role, Latest News.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":72531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3610,246,21,23],"class_list":{"0":"post-72513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","8":"tag-melanin","9":"tag-prelims-current-affairs","10":"tag-prelims-pointers","11":"tag-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}