Melanin Is Worth More Than Gold. Melanin can be isolated/extracted from human hair. Easily. So the whole melanin thieves, melanin harvesting, hoax/myth/urban legend can die an ignominious death. A.S.A.P. And people who are promoting the melanin stock market can give it a rest too.
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.590.205&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Isolation of melanin pigments from human hair
j. c. ARNAUD and P. BOR•, L’Oreal Research Laboratories, Societe L’Oreal, 1 Avenue de Saint Germain, Boite Postale no. 22, 93601 Aulnay-sous-bois, France. Received March 17, 1980.
Synopsis
The isolation of melanin pigments from human hair requires the SOLUBILIZATION OF KERATIN material. The chemical reagents which have been previously used for this purpose often give rise to impure melanin pigments through side reactions. We propose a new method based on the digestion of human hair with a PROTOLYTIC ENZYME, Proteinase PSF 2019. The enzymatic reaction is carried out at 40øC and results in 90% PROTEIN DIGESTION. A preliminary hair sensitization is necessary to improve the digestion yield. Two procedures have been investigated which enhance the digestion of hair with minimum damage to peptide and disulfide bonds: (1) Treatment of hair with anhydrous dimethylformamide at 120øC; and (2) Treatment of hair under reflux with an aqueous solution of lithium bromide. The method has been applied to hair of different racial types.
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