not only is it responsible for giving us our UV blocking complexion at the cellular level it got so melanin's most promising talent yet discovered the ability to conduct electricity that's important because
if we fancy a future where environmentally benign electronics help us fight disease monitor our health and store energy we're going to need bio friendly materials and what better material for the job than one made right in house
this is melanin in its most common form when it comes to electrical charge melanin acts as a sort of bank always ready to lend out or take electrons depending on the environment chained together as they naturally tend to do melanin molecules can shuffle electrons and surrounding ions end to end the result is an all natural electrode material in terms of performance
it's not on par with the electronic materials we find in our phones and laptops but because melanin is 100% compatible with our body's makeup it's a much safer starting material for building electronic devices both for us and the environment
researchers have shown that melanin can act as a switch when sandwiched between metal electrodes turning on and off under different applied voltages it seems like a simple trick but that switching behavior is critical to the operation of any computing device probably dopamine A synthetic melanin analogue has been used to extract harmful metal ions from water and Polly dopamine coated nanoparticles have been shown to boost the sensitivity of tests designed to seek out diseases like HIV zika and cancer researchers are still learning how melanin behaves when surrounded by the machinery that makes useful electronics work but continued efforts from chemists physicists and material scientists are likely to result in exciting new applications for this highly versatile molecule
@melaningoddesscult1 this dark skinned beauty is just fine #melaninpoppin #darkskinnedbeauty #blackgirlmagic #flawless #melaninqueen ♬ original sound - MelaninGoddessCult
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