Every cell in your skin has the unique DNA codes that you have in all other cells in your unique body, but DNA in the skin is more easily damaged than in other cells in your body due to it’s exposure to UV rays from the sun. We live on THIS planet which means the UVA and UVB rays from the sun penetrate our skin EVERY SINGLE DAY.
If we limit our exposure to any form of daylight, we will limit DNA damage to skin cells. However, we need some exposure to daylight in order to enable our skin to turn 7-dihydrocholesterol into Vitamin D3 – an essential vitamin for the health of the whole body.
Sunscreens are not sunblocks because there is nothing you can apply to your skin that can block out all the sun’s rays. A mineral based sunscreen is therefore the best FIRST STEP to protect your skin from excessive DNA damage due to UV rays from the sun.
The genetic coding of your DNA means that the ‘system’ has checks and balances built in to ensure that damage can be repaired as best as possible, so generally most people (especially when we are young) will have DNA damaged cells repaired or killed off and in so doing avert the dangerous genetic mutations that can result in skin cancers.
Helping our skin cells repair it’s UV induced DNA damage can be done topically through purified enzymes from the Mediterranean Aribidopsis plant as found in Cell Youth Actif. These enzymes don’t go in and start fixing your DNA, as with all enzymes they are merely catalysts to an action….so they start the ball rolling and your natural repair mechanisms will kick-in and do the work they are supposed to do. This becomes very important as we age because our repair mechanisms naturally become less active. To learn more about the DNA repair process see this Wikipedia entry.
Can DNA be applied topically to your skin and then penetrate and thus change your resident DNA? Absolutely not – only in science fiction. So products claiming to contain DNA (or the chemical messenger RNA) are going to be full of marketing hype and very short on scientific action.
Since the human genome was mapped, this century started out with a lot of excitement about how we will be able to eliminate all lethal diseases known to mankind simply by changing the genes responsible for those illnesses. This seemed theoretically possible seeing as a very small percentage (less than 2%) of our genes actually do any ‘real’ work in terms of coding for all the myriad of proteins needed in our body to function….and of course if some of those proteins are not properly formed then we get disease and medical disorders. Proteins make up most of the trillions of cells in the human body….so they are a BIG deal!
Well, it appears that the human genome is even more complicated than previously thought, and that the majority of the genes that were non coding (and therefore classified as JUNK) are actually pretty instrumental in enabling disease and disorders. For more information on this read this really interesting report on the latest scientific discoveries.
And it does not stop there, the epigenome (markers attached to the genome) will also affect the functioning of the genes and the production of proteins. The epigenome is thought to be ‘shorter’ term related and can change due to experiential activities in our lifetime or that of our parents or grandparents.
All in all, DNA in skin care is complex, and simple marketing messages are more hype than fact. So, eat a healthy organic diet, treat your body well, reduce the potentials for DNA damage, and be happy….
The information provided here is not meant to diagnose or cure any medical conditions. Please see your doctor or a trained medical professional should you have any concerns.