Suzie
08-21-2004, 07:12 PM
Thin! Tan! Hotter Than Hell!
Pharmaceutical labs are cooking up a new class of pills that make looking good feel better than ever.
By Wil McCarthy
It was chemical serendipity of billion-dollar proportions: a tanning drug with all the right side effects.
A hundred years ago, being tan was bad, because it meant you worked outside, which meant you weren't rich. By the 1970s, tan lines had become associated with exercise, tropical vacations, and bumming around in skimpy clothing while others worked. Tan was cultural, tan was affluent, tan was healthy. UV-induced tan was also, unfortunately, the cause of a sharp rise in skin cancer rates and premature wrinkles.
Hence a mid-'80s research push at the University of Arizona to attack the problem from inside. Being tan is healthy; ironically, people who work outdoors and see the sun every day are at low risk for skin cancer. But getting tan is where the danger lies. The faster it happens - worst case: a tanning booth - the more harmful it is. The U of A team, which included endocrinologist Mac Hadley and dermatologist Norman Levine, came upon a synthetic hormone a thousand times more potent than the body's own tanning triggers. They called it Melanotan and pinned high hopes on its sunless ability to protect, beautify, and gently fleece the pale peoples of the world.
MORE HERE (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/melanotan.html)
Sounds too good to be true!
Pharmaceutical labs are cooking up a new class of pills that make looking good feel better than ever.
By Wil McCarthy
It was chemical serendipity of billion-dollar proportions: a tanning drug with all the right side effects.
A hundred years ago, being tan was bad, because it meant you worked outside, which meant you weren't rich. By the 1970s, tan lines had become associated with exercise, tropical vacations, and bumming around in skimpy clothing while others worked. Tan was cultural, tan was affluent, tan was healthy. UV-induced tan was also, unfortunately, the cause of a sharp rise in skin cancer rates and premature wrinkles.
Hence a mid-'80s research push at the University of Arizona to attack the problem from inside. Being tan is healthy; ironically, people who work outdoors and see the sun every day are at low risk for skin cancer. But getting tan is where the danger lies. The faster it happens - worst case: a tanning booth - the more harmful it is. The U of A team, which included endocrinologist Mac Hadley and dermatologist Norman Levine, came upon a synthetic hormone a thousand times more potent than the body's own tanning triggers. They called it Melanotan and pinned high hopes on its sunless ability to protect, beautify, and gently fleece the pale peoples of the world.
MORE HERE (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/melanotan.html)
Sounds too good to be true!