No, melanin is not a protein. It is a highly irregular heteropolymer composed of monomeric units derived from the enzymatic oxidation of the amino acid tyrosine. This process occurs in specialized acidic organelles called melanosomes found within melanocytes.
Melanin plays a crucial role in pigmentation, contributing to the color of our skin, hair, and eyes. While tyrosine is a building block of proteins, melanin itself does not possess the characteristic chain of amino acids that defines a protein.
