Slashdot Mirror
Tan With Implants Instead Of Sun
WolfWithoutAClause writes: "Trials of a drug called Melanotan that increases the rate of melanin production in the skin is going well, and may be released for human use in 2005. Tan in a capsule! Less skin cancer and skin aging! No more tedious tanning! The ABC News article is here."
Now all I need is a pill that makes me trim and muscular and one that keeps me clean without requiring to shower. Then I can be a normal, healthy member of society.
Karma: Good (despite my invention of the Karma: sig)
The same company that make tanning oils (to get your skin darker) make skin "bleachers" (for for indian/african market) ....
:)
I wonder if this company will make an "Anti-tanning" pill, that will make your skin whiter?
I guess we are all going to end up being grey
--=.=-- www.cyber2000.qc.ca
Actually, it has been shown that the drug has unwanted side effects, such increased libido and spontaneous erections in males. Now it's being studied as a viagra-substitute, the problem is to separate this from the tanning effect. An alternative is to market it as the "barbie-pill": tan & sex; add a sprinkle of coke and you have it all.
More info at melanotan.org.
This article reminds me of I nonsense story I told one of my roommates.
I was preparing to go on holiday to South Africa (spending my flying quotum for approx. 10 years) and needed to get some shots.
During the daily washing up, my roommate asked me which shots I had had to take. I told him, the regular shots, but since he likes fooling people around, I thought I'd get back at him for some of his pranks, and I told him I'd also taken an experimental shot which was supposed to increase my melatonin level in the next week, so I'd already have a tan when I'd go to South Africa. The point of the shot was that the tan would protect me from the sun instead of sun tan lotion. Since it was an experimental shot I'd volenteered to at the docter's, I was supposed to take a picture of myself twice a day, making sure the lightning was always equal. Also during my holiday I should measure my light exposure and continue taking pictures.
I was really surprised by the fact he totally believed my story! I thought it was completely transparent bullshit. In the next week he kept informing about the progess, and months later when I told him he'd been fooled he was really flabergasted. But now, three years later, the same idea's on slashdot....
So why did I needed to get back at this guy?
Every morning he woke up before everybody else in the house. Since nobody was in the kitchen while he was there, he started drawing a crack from the ceiling of our new house, adding only the slightest bit every day. We were quite worried about the solidity of our house, but couldn't properly examine the crack since it was so high up. The need to go up to the crack, since it was so obvious. It took months before we realised the crack was drawn with a pencil!
DNA is the ultimate spaghetti code.
Dagnabbit, I was just about to mention this, and somebody's beaten me to it.. :-)
The drug in question is, as I recall, "Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone", which evidently is showing in trials that it improves libido for both men and women. It seemingly acts in the brain rather than the genitals (and as any marriage/sex councelor should tell you, the brain is the most important sex organ after all) and so works in a completely different way from viagra and such.
Wonder how hard it is to get hold of stock in this company....whether it's OFFICIALLY released for anything other than a tanning-aid, you just KNOW that the, ahem, "off-label" uses of it will make it awfully popular....
(I find it hilarious to see increased libido listed as an unwanted side-effect... :-) )
Hacker Public Radio is our Friend
I think women look MUCH better pale-skinned anyday (Carrie Ann Moss, Liv Tyler, my wife) ;)
This story had some media coverage about 5 years ago... For example, here's a Boston Globe bit with some useful details:t ories/heal th/how_and_why/101397.htm m elanotan .html
http://search.boston.com/globe/search/s
A more recent article which is much better than the lame ABC story is on Wired:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.06/
It also occurs to me that if one was drowning, yelling "Help! I'm drowning and I lost my bikini top" would probably be m
The real trick would be a pill that lets you change your skin to a more outlandish color than "sorta brownish." Certain subcultures woul just eat this up. I can imagine a warehouse full of ravers with purple, green, fluorescent, etc. skin.
My deviantArt site
Yes, it is. You can find more information here. Besides the tan and increased libido, other terrible side effects include clearing up acne, and suppressed appetite.
It's a pill, not an implant.
Side effects include increased sex drive, appetite suppressant, it's an anti-inflamitory, and it may fight acne (not sure about that one).
It would be the perfect barbie pill if only it madeyou blond too. Tan, thin, horny, no pain, and clear complexion.
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