We all know sitting out in the sun with little or no protection and sunbeds are bad for our health, but there are still people who do it - in fact, three million people still use sun beds each year (crazy, we know). On the flipside, those who do want to stay safe but like the look of a tan have the laborious task of slathering on fake tan every few days.
Of course, the clever scientists haven't developed the implant to prevent us getting a streaky fake tan - instead it's been created for people with skin conditions, to prevent the overuse of sunbeds and to potentially reduce almost 12,000 cases of malignant skin cancer in Britain each year . But, because it offers the double whammy of sun protection and a fake tan the commercial potential is huge. Just think, Botox was developed as a muscle relaxant and is now a household name as an anti-wrinkle injectable.
Lesley Rhodes, professor of experimental dermatology at Manchester University said, 'Potentially, it does offer an alternative to commercial sunscreens and there are lots of senior scientists who are convinced it's safe.'
Of course, with anything like this plenty of testing and a greater knowledge of the implant will be needed before it will be made available. Which means, for now, fake tan is the only option for a healthy tan.
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