How Does Melanin Turn Humans Black/White?
What makes people black or white (and not only people)? It’s the pigment melanin (or its scarcity), which blackens the skin and hair in mammals. The pigment is synthesized in specialized cells, melanocytes and then delivered to other cells. But not all the skin cells are loaded with melanin. A team at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cutaneous Biology Research Center (CBRC) has found how melanin is transported to the right places. “Pigment recipient cells essentially tell melanocytes where to deposit melanin, and the pattern of those recipients determines pigment patterns. Recipient cells act like the outlines in a child’s coloring book; as recipient cells develop, they form a ‘picture’ that is initially colorless but is then ‘colored in’ by the melanocytes.” said lead researcher Dr.
