Scientists have made a drug that copies how sunlight affects our skin. It tricks our skin into becoming darker. It gets our body to make melanin. Melanin is what gives our skin its colour. The scientists are from a hospital in the USA. They say their drug could be good for our health. It could stop skin cancer and slow down how old we look. Lots of sun can give us skin cancer. It can also make our skin look old and give us wrinkles.
The drug could give us a suntan without the Sun's harmful UV rays. UV rays damage our skin. They make light-skinned people turn red. Melanin darkens our skin so we look tanned. Melanin is our natural sunblock. It protects the skin from UV rays. A researcher said the drug could help fight skin cancer. This is the most common type of cancer. The researcher said melanin can, "lower [the] risk of all forms of skin cancer".