For decades, scientists blamed DNA damage for the angry red sunburn that follows a day of too much sun. But they may have been pointing fingers at the wrong molecular culprit.
A December 2024 study identified RNA damage as the true instigator of sunburn’s immediate painful effects, upending our understanding of how ultraviolet (UV) radiation affects our skin.
The study, published in Molecular Cell, found that UV radiation damages both RNA and DNA, but it’s RNA damage that triggers sunburn’s initial skin reactions like inflammation and cell death.
However, the study did not mention any other implications of learning that RNA, and not DNA, is the culprit behind sunburn….