What is the difference between keratin and melanin? and what impacts do the sun have on our skin if there is less of

Question: What is the difference between keratin and melanin? and what impacts do the sun have on our skin if there is less of one or the other?
- Keywords:
  keratin,
  melanin,
  skin,
  sun
Asked by jelloread12 to Ed, Hayley, Jason, Nathan, Sophie on 12 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by albocxdaem.
- Jason King answered on 12 Mar 2013:
  
  Hi, both keratin and melanin are important in the skin, but have different roles. The keratin is basically tough, and helps keep the skin nice and tough so it can cope with all the bumps it gets all the time. Melanin on the other hand helps protect your skin from radiation damage (like sunlight). Melanin is pretty cool, as it gets made by special cells in the skin and forms a kind of hat over the nucleus to shield the DNA inside it from the sun. The more sunlight you get, the more melanin the skin forms to protect itself, which is why you get a sun tan.

Question: What is the difference between keratin and melanin? and what impacts do the sun have on our skin if there is less of one or the other?