Commercial available sunscreen lotions can very effectively protect from dangerous radiation in the ultraviolet, but they need to be applied regularly and in high amounts to develop their full potential. One of the most critical issues is the limited stability of the UV filter molecules.
The natural sunscreen molecules are called microsporine-like amino acids( MAAs) and are widespread in the microbial world, most prominently in marine algae and cyanobacteria. MAAs are small molecules derived from amino acids, thermally stable, and they absorb light in the ultraviolet region, protecting the microbial DNA from radiation damage. Thus they are natural sunscreens.
The synthesized compounds are characterized by excellent filter capacities in the relevant UV range. In addition they are photostable, much more than, for example, oxybenzene which is a widely used sunscreen in commercial formulations. They do not react chemically and dissipate radiation as heat( but not to such an extent that the skin temperature would rise as well). And, most importantly, when tested in real formulations, the sun protection factor( SPF) rose by a factor of more than two. Thus they could be promising targets for more stable, more efficient sunscreen lotions.