Editing Melanin (section)

==== Selenomelanin ====
It is possible to enrich melanin with [[selenium]] instead of [[sulphur]]. This selenium analogue of pheomelanin has been successfully synthesized through chemical and biosynthetic routes using selenocystine as a feedstock.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Cao |first1=Wei |last2=McCallum |first2=Naneki C. |last3=Ni |first3=Qing Zhe |last4=Li |first4=Weiyao |last5=Boyce |first5=Hannah |last6=Mao |first6=Haochuan |last7=Zhou |first7=Xuhao |last8=Sun |first8=Hao |last9=Thompson |first9=Matthew P. |last10=Battistella |first10=Claudia |last11=Wasielewski |first11=Michael R. |last12=Dhinojwala |first12=Ali |last13=Shawkey |first13=Matthew D. |last14=Burkart |first14=Michael D. |last15=Wang |first15=Zheng |date=2020-07-22 |title=Selenomelanin: An Abiotic Selenium Analogue of Pheomelanin |url=https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.0c05573 |journal=Journal of the American Chemical Society |language=en |volume=142 |issue=29 |pages=12802–12810 |doi=10.1021/jacs.0c05573 |issn=0002-7863 |pmid=32638590 |s2cid=220413025 |access-date=30 August 2024 |archive-date=6 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906193055/https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.0c05573 |url-status=live }}</ref> Due to selenium's higher atomic number, the obtained selenomelanin can be expected to provide better protection against ionising radiation as compared to the other known forms of melanin. This protection has been demonstrated with radiation experiments on human cells and bacteria, opening up the possibility of applications in space travel.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mark Heiden |date=8 July 2020 |title=New biomaterial could shield against harmful radiation |url=https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/07/new-biomaterial-could-shield-against-harmful-radiation-selenomelanin/ |access-date=29 January 2023 |publisher=Northwestern University |archive-date=30 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240830064612/https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2020/07/new-biomaterial-could-shield-against-harmful-radiation-selenomelanin/ |url-status=live }}</ref>