We’ve already explained what sunburn is, but until recently, no-one’s been able to actually help you with the agonising, lobster-tinged burny-ness of it all. So it’s good news that some clever folks at Kings College London, have managed to identified the protein responsible for the pain.

The protein, which until recently had not been identified, is known as CXCL5 and is found in large quantities in the sunburned skin of human and animal test subjects. When the team injected an antibody that neutralizes CXCL5 into mice the pain of the burn went away.

As is sadly often the case, success in mouse trials, doesn’t exactly mean a treatment that will work on humans is around the corner, but it can at least give hope that one day you’ll be able to do something better for your sunburn than lying very still on a bathroom floor.

Source : New Scientist