I hear about it cause my Friend is albino and she was born with no pigments in her hair,skin or eyes
then she is natural coz she is not using any substances to colour or paint....
a pigment is a naturally produced substance in humans and nature in general, that reflects light that is perceived by our eyes as colour -a person without pigment would show totally white hair, and pale pink skin and eyes (the pink is from the blood vessels) -we have it to protect us from the sun --> naturally dark or tanned people have lots, rarely get burned or skin cancer; fair-skinned people were designed for the northern areas with less sunlight, burn easily
Melanin (i /?m?l?n?n/; Greek: μ?λα?, black) is a pigment that is ubiquitous in nature, being found in most organisms (spiders are one of the few groups in which it has not been detected). In animals melanin pigments are derivatives of the amino acid tyrosine. The most common form of biological melanin is eumelanin, a brown-black polymer of dihydroxyindole carboxylic acids, and their reduced forms. All melanins are derivatives of polyacetylene. The most common melanin – dopamelanin – is a mixed copolymer of polyacetylene, polyaniline, and polypyrrole. Another common form of melanin is pheomelanin, a red-brown polymer of benzothiazine units largely responsible for red hair and freckles. The presence of melanin in the archaea and bacteria kingdoms is an issue of ongoing debate among researchers in the field. The increased production of melanin in human skin is called melanogenesis. Production of melanin is stimulated by DNA damage induced by UVB-radiation,[1] and it leads to a delayed development of a tan. This melanogenesis-based tan takes more time to develop, but it is long lasting.[2] The photochemical properties of melanin make it an excellent photoprotectant. It absorbs harmful UV-radiation and transforms the energy into harmless heat through a process called ultrafast internal conversion. This property enables melanin to dissipate more than 99.9% of the absorbed UV radiation as heat[3] (see photoprotection). This prevents the indirect DNA damage that is responsible for the formation of malignant melanoma and other skin cancers. Albinism (from Latin albus, white; see extended etymology, also called achromia, achromasia, or achromatosis) is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin.
