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Our skin color has crucial implications for health. In the modern era, as humans of various shades have moved rapidly across hemispheres, their skin has not had time to adapt to different amounts of ultraviolet light, so they are poorly adapted to their environments.
For example, Homosapiens with less melanin who live near the equator, risk skin cancer unless they use sunscreen. Dark ark-skinned Homosapiens who bundle up in frigid northern winters or stay indoors all day in the tropics risk vitamin D deficiency, making them susceptible to rickets, infectious diseases, heart disease, and other health problems. Some theories that dark skin evolved to protect folate circulating in the blood, remain unproven. |
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Penn State University anthropologist Dr. Nina Jablonski explains how different shades of skin color arose as adaptations to the intensity of ultraviolet radiation in different parts of the world. This film is appropriate for science classes from middle school to college.
The content connects to key concepts in biology, human biogeography, genetics, and anatomy and physiology. Chemistry and biochemistry classes will appreciate the focus on the effects of UV radiation on DNA, folate degradation, and vitamin D synthesis. |
Science
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Technology
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Engineering
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Mathematics
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Empowerment
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