What Really Causes Sunburns?

The way the sun damages your skin is weirder than you ever thought.
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Nature: Sunlight Damages DNA in the Dark
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v518/n7540/full/518459b.html

The Protective Role of Melanin Against UV Damage in Human Skin
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2671032/

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Host, Writer, Animator, Editor
Anna Rothschild

Videography
Sara Tewksbury and Anna Rothschild

Production Help
Sara Tewksbury

Special Thanks to Dr. Douglas Brash and Dr. Barbara Gilchrest

FOOTAGE AND IMAGES

Original Footage
©WGBH Educational Foundation

Sunburn
Wikimedia Commons/Wikioogle=world Take Over

Trees and Sunshine
Wikimedia Commons/Richs5812

Hands of Love
Wikimedia Commons/Mr-yuyu

Tan lines on a human female chest
Wikimedia Commons/Evil Erin

Sunburn (131417495)
Wikimedia Commons/Kelly Sue DeConnick

Sunburnt Back (3)
Wikimedia Commons/Pavel Ševela

Malignant melanoma on chest
Wikimedia Commons/CDC/Carl Washington, M.D. Emory Univ. School of Medicine; Mona Saraiya, MD, MPH

SFX

Cockroaches
Freesound/StateAardvark­
(used with permission from author)

Squeak Pack/squeak_10
Freesound/Corsica_S

Produced by WGBH for PBS Digital Studios