Skin Protection

At just a few millimetres thick, our skin protects us from all manner of things: infection, dehydration and more. But what protects our skin? Researchers hone in on two genes – Dmnt3a (green) and Dmnt3b – that are implicated in cancer, taking a look at what they do in skin. They looked at the skin of mice, which had been genetically tweaked to lack one or both of these genes. Under normal conditions, there wasn't any difference from regular mouse skin (pictured). However when the mice were exposed to a chemical that causes cancer, differences soon became apparent. Skin lacking Dmnt3a, but not Dmnt3b, formed more tumours than normal skin. These tumours however didn't spread. Skin lacking both genes not only had more tumours but these tumours were also more aggressive and able to spread. Dmnt3a and Dmnt3b therefore team up to protect our skin from the ravages of cancer.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Lux Fatimathas

Writer

Having pursued science through a career in research, communications and publishing, she is currently a writer and editor for a healthcare marketing agency and also juggles freelance science writing.

• Image from work by Lorenzo Rinaldi and colleagues
• Institute for Research in Biomedicine, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain
• Image originally published under a Creative Commons Licence (BY 4.0)
• Published in eLife, April 2017