New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today. “Originally, we all had brown eyes.”New research shows that people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. A team at the University of Copenhagen have tracked down a genetic mutation which took place 6-10,000 years ago and is the cause of the eye colour of all blue-eyed humans alive on the planet today.
“Originally, we all had brown eyes”, said Professor Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine. “But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a “switch”, which literally “turned off” the ability to produce brown eyes”. The OCA2 gene codes for the so-called P protein, which is involved in the production of melanin, the pigment that gives colour to our hair, eyes and skin. The “switch”, which is located in the gene adjacent to OCA2 does not, however, turn off the gene entirely, but rather limits its action to reducing the production of melanin in the iris – effectively “diluting” brown eyes to blue. The switch’s effect on OCA2 is very specific therefore. If the OCA2 gene had been completely destroyed or turned off, human beings would be without melanin in their hair, eyes or skin colour – a condition known as albinism.
Variation in the colour of the eyes from brown to green can all be explained by the amount of melanin in the iris, but blue-eyed individuals only have a small degree of variation in the amount of melanin in their eyes. “From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor,” says Professor Eiberg. “They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.” Brown-eyed individuals, by contrast, have considerable individual variation in the area of their DNA that controls melanin production.
Professor Eiberg and his team examined mitochondrial DNA and compared the eye colour of blue-eyed individuals in countries as diverse as Jordan, Denmark and Turkey. His findings are the latest in a decade of genetic research, which began in 1996, when Professor Eiberg first implicated the OCA2 gene as being responsible for eye colour.
Nature shuffles our genes
The mutation of brown eyes to blue represents neither a positive nor a negative mutation. It is one of several mutations such as hair colour, baldness, freckles and beauty spots, which neither increases nor reduces a human’s chance of survival. As Professor Eiberg says, “it simply shows that nature is constantly shuffling the human genome, creating a genetic cocktail of human chromosomes and trying out different changes as it does so.”
http://www.ku.dk/english
Comments
Oh my god! Same here!
July 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 1 day 10 hours ago
Comment id: 37673
Oh my god! Same here!
Yeah
July 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 1 day 12 hours ago
Comment id: 37670
Yeah Sure....But My mom has blue eyes and my dad has blue eyes I have green eyes!
I feel like you're using
June 29, 2009 by Anonymous, 4 days 17 hours ago
Comment id: 37608
I feel like you're using "nappy" incorrectly. What I feel you mean to say is that your hair is curly around the temples not nappy. I feel nappy implies that it is difficult to comb/brush through, which I feel you don't mean to imply. If you're going to add to your vocab. please at least attempt to utilize the proper words. Also, the word "nappy" is seen as offensive even though you're using it to describe yourself.
woop woop
June 29, 2009 by Anonymous, 5 days 1 hour ago
Comment id: 37603
Keryy Beth and Amie think the site is Fab !! x
is this the answer?
June 19, 2009 by Anonymous, 2 weeks 10 hours ago
Comment id: 37412
According to a 5 part BBC tv series, the world's human population can be traced back to ONE African tribe!
Check out the link below...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00l7pmr/The_Incredible_Human_Journ...
mam try google just
June 19, 2009 by Anonymous, 2 weeks 15 hours ago
Comment id: 37401
for a while... before you post such a simple question.
here you are:
http://museum.thetech.org/ugenetics/eyeCalc/eyecalculator.html
wow that was a little harsh
June 10, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 37192
VA home loans
I loved the story.
Vitiligo Treatment
June 9, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 37135
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My sister
June 6, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 37069
has one brown eye and one blue eye. No one on either side of the family ever had brown eyes that we know of. I was born blonde. My father's side of the family had dark brown hair; my mother's side had black hair. No one could figure out where the blonde came from. I have freckles, but I tan easily. One of my sisters has no freckles and is pale all year. You just never know how mutts will turn out and that's the great thing about America - we're mostly mutts!
oh-oh dum da dum dum
June 3, 2009 by Anonymous, 4 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 37016
oh-oh dum da dum dum
Vitiligo Treatment
June 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 4 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 36974
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Yes.....
May 30, 2009 by Anonymous, 4 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 36942
Yes. My husband has brown hair and brown eyes and I do as well. Our baby girl is almost 3 and has blonde hair and blue eyes.
You are not alone, part deux
May 28, 2009 by Anonymous, 5 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 36895
Oh and by the way, I had epicanthic eye folds when I was younger, but I grew out of them.. I guess? Anyway, I don't have them now but they were pretty prominent when I was younger.
What does all of this hocus pocus make me?
You are not alone.
May 28, 2009 by Anonymous, 5 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 36893
My mothers father is three quarters Native American (Cherokee) and one quarter African American. Her mother is half French and half Irish (celt). My mother has always had very dark (reddish brown, almost black) and absolutely straight hair, light green and almond shaped eyes, plus a sort of yellowish complexion. She tan very easy.
My father is half Irish, half Scottish and has dark blue eyes and medium to dark brown hair (which is also wavy/slightly curly).
My siblings and cousins all have dark brown or black hair (wavy/curly or straight as an arrow, depending on which side of the family they come from), dark blue or brown eyes and yellowish to olive skin. All tan easy, some of them look like indians (N.A's), some look really celtic and some even look black.
So far so good. And then it's me..
I was born with dark reddish brown hair and dark blue eyes, no big surprise there really. However these trademarks soon vanished and were mysteriously replaced by blonde hair and VERY bright blue eyes. My skin is yellowish but quite fair, I tanned real easy as a kid (judging by photos and my mothers word) but these days I have to be more careful since I never know from time to time if I'll end up tanned or burned!
I look a lot like my mother (who looks like a mix between a celt and an indian, think Olivia Hussey!) and people tell me this a lot. I can see I too, but still there are quite a few pivotal differences, mainly.. we don't look like we belong to the same race!
I think I look Jewish (even though I'm absolutely sure we don't have any Jewish ancestors within the latest 600 years or so, before that - who knows?) or really, really Scandinavian (or am I thinking Dutch?) with my baby blues and dark blonde hair. And, to further add to the mystery, I have slightly wavy hair with a real tendency for nappy hairs around my temples.. WTF?
I have grilled my parent about all this on occasion but they assure me that I'm not adopted and the baby/kid in the photos is indeed me. Still.. I LOOK SO DAMN WHITE!?
I can't get my head around this. Genetics huh?
(Ps! Almost all of the women in my family have slender legs, big boobs and at least half a booty.. and, as you've already guessed, yours truly has fat thighs, flat chest and NO ASS!)
littl3europe
May 27, 2009 by Anonymous, 5 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 36886
so i have a question. i have been trying like crazy to figure out what my heritage is.
my mom tells me that i am of irish and finnish decent. and im pretty sure the same
goes with my dad. i think he said hes irish and a bit norwegian. but i dont look like any of the these decents. I have fair skin though i tan fairly easy during the summer and im very fair in the winter. I have hazel eyes and dark brown hair and almond shaped eyes. my dad had blonde hair when he was younger and it grew to be dark brown and he has hazel eyes. my mom had light blonde hair when she was a child and has blueish Grey eyes. but her hair grew to be a light ash brown. my hair has always been very dark almost black. i would always get referred to as an indian or a white mexican or italian. i would just like some feedback on where you think my characteristics may originally come from?
red hair?
May 26, 2009 by Anonymous, 5 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 36858
i have a question. My mom has red hair and blue eyes. her father has brown hair and blue eyes. her mom has dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. How is this possible to have red hair if their is no other recent family member with red hair?????
Your question
May 5, 2009 by Anonymous, 8 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 36521
It means that either some in the family, grandparents, great grandparents. etc..
Have some allels in them that allow the production of green eyes. :D
Hope it helps
3
April 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 10 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 36342
Two individuals with brown eyes have a child with greens. How is this possible? What can you say about the genotype of each parent?
veandre1@yahoo.com
Dominican
April 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 10 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 36337
It is common for eye color to change and darken over time. Hazel eyes are prone to "appearing" in change. They are actually affected more by what colors are around them. example: people with green/hazel eyes say they appear more green when they cry. The eye usually turns red when we cry and that is the opposite on the color wheel. Therefore making eyes "appear" they are changing. 2 brown eyed people CAN have a blue eyed child. They must carry a recessive gene for this. This means that a grandparent or great parent or even further down... had blue eyes. It is common for blue eyes to skip generations as well. Now green eyes are a different gene but works on the same principal of recessive genes. True green eyes are rarer that blue. Hazel eyes can carry both resulting in a mix. The outer ring color of the eye tends to be what gene you will pass onto your relatives. True Canarian people are usually described as being Tall, Blonde and Blue eyed. After gene studying, the true Canarian gene is found to be more common with Early Northern African and Phoenecians that were blue eyed. (The Viking myth has been pretty much discarded.) Now we must remember that to most Spanish or darker people you are either Rubio o Moreno. Most people considered Rubio may in fact of just been "lighter" Morenos. Not true rubios. So do not depend on word of mouth by your Ancestory.
Yes, this is possible if
April 22, 2009 by Anonymous, 10 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 36321
Yes, this is possible if either your husband or his ex has a recessive blue eye gene. As blue is a recessive gene, two brown eyed people have around a 25% chance of having blue eyed children.
Two parents with blue eyes will always have blue eyed children.
need help with this one
April 19, 2009 by Anonymous, 10 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 36267
my husband is brown eyed brown hair and his ex is brown eyed and red hair, she claims her daughter is his but she is blonde and blue eyes, is that even possible
recessive traits
April 9, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 1 day ago
Comment id: 35993
It all has to do with their recessive traits. Brown is more dominant than blue, and blue is more dominant than green. Which means that, although their eye colors may have shown a certain color, they were still carriers for different eye colors and as the traits got passed down you and your mother got the recessive traits so you have different colored eyes than everyone else.
my hair and eye colors
April 8, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 35956
my mom has dark brown, almost black brown and green eyes, and my dad has blondish brownish hair with blue eyes, so im a mix i have green or hazel eyes, idk which and light brown hair with blond tint
brown eyed father, silver-like eyed mother
April 7, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 35929
my grandfather (Fathers Side) has brown eyes, my grandmother (fathers side) has brown eyes, my grandfather (Mothers side) has blue eyes, my grandmother (mothers side) has brown eyes, my father has brown eyes and my mother has silvery-purple eyes. i have green eyes 50% of the time and blue eyes 50% of the time. it changes randomly every hour/day/week or month. anyone know why
my eyes
April 5, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 35848
my mother has brown eyes and my dad has blue but i dont excactly know what color my eyes are some days they are green and some days the are blue and or green or brown or even grey is that normal? please answer back
thanks
i have strange eye colour
April 5, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 35842
actually i don't know what is my real eye colour. i'm originally kurd from turkey and i have dark brown hair but as child i had red and brown mixed hair and now glows red in the sun or light and my eyes are sometimes green sometimes hazel sometimes olive green and sometimes green a little bit fair brown and grey....lool whats my eye colour??can someone help me?
thx
Thanks for the answer! My
March 31, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 35735
Thanks for the answer! My eyes are actually green and just look blue occasionally (which i should have said).
His Dads are definitely blue...
blue/green and brown
March 28, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 35692
It depends on what you mean by "blue/green" do you actually mean blue? If so about half-
If you have blue eyes you have both the recessive genes required for this. If your husband has brown eyes but a BLUE eyed father than he has a single recessive gene that is not expressed. In which case, any child would have a 50/50- they would get a blue gene from you and either a brown or blue gene from your husband..
However green is totally different- whether your and your husband's father have blue or green eyes is very important.
Blue/green + brown = ?
March 27, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 12 hours ago
Comment id: 35665
I have blue/green eyes as do both my parents and grandparents. My husband has brown eyes, his mother brown eyes but his father blue/green - how possible is it our baby's eyes would be blue/green?
My eye colour changes
March 25, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 35579
My eye colour changes sometimes. Often its green, then its hazel, and sometimes its grey. I'm not sure if that's just a trick of the light, do peoples eye colour change? I know babies do, all my seven brothers and sisters were born with blue eyes and only two of them have blue eyes now, all the rest have green or hazel. My Mum has grey eyes and my Dad has green eyes. My little sister is two, and over the past month or so her eyes have changed from grey to green, is that normal?
green eyes and very short ,dark hair
March 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 35546
I am of spanish,germanic and italian origan. I have green eyes and dark brown hair. People say that i look more on the italian side. very few say spanish or german, although a few in the past have said spanish. Spanish and german people do have green eyes, especially germans. I have more italian features though. My mother is italian and german and my dad italian and spanish. Supposely my ancestors on my grandfathers side migrated from madrid, spain to naples, italy. Its realy cool to know this stuff. Im light olive skin, but when i tan in the summer i get very dark, almost like a dark maroonish brown.
hi i have a question
March 20, 2009 by Anonymous, 15 weeks 8 hours ago
Comment id: 35490
When I was born with blonde hair and pure hazel eyes. My dad was blonde when he was younger and has blue eyes. My mom on the other hand is totaly different. My mom has black hair and very very dark brown eyes. My sister has black hair and brown eyes too. I do have a half brother so I'm the 3rd child in my fam.
My eyes some times turn green, for example when I cry they some times turn gree. Also there r some days where my eyes do turn green in the light.
Is it possible for me to have this gene and my eyes will change color?
Dominican
March 16, 2009 by Anonymous, 15 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 35396
I'm from Dominican Republic. I have brown hair but it turns blond in some areas, also my beard is red in some places. i have brown eyes, sometimes they turn honey brown. i have a picture of myself at 3, i had green eyes and Brown, almost Blond hair.
My father´s family has black hair and dark eyes. My mother´s haves blue silver eyes and brown hair. my mother haves brown hair and eyes.
I'm the third son and the only one to have these characteristics. just for the record about the subject.
PS. My family from both sides came from the canaries islands in the 1700´s, before that from northern Spain.
It is very possible. I have
March 16, 2009 by Anonymous, 15 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 35366
It is very possible. I have four boys (same dad yes) my second son is blond/blue, and very fair. My other 3 boys have brown hair and brown eyes, two have hazel brown/green eyes like me. My hair is brown now but as a child it was bleach blond color, and the blue eyes area trait that can show up if one of the parents has hazel eyes.
i want coloured eyes baby
March 10, 2009 by Anonymous, 16 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 35268
hi, i am saba n i am asian n hav honey brownish eyes n my partner have also light brown eyes . but i want my concieved baby eyes coloured. is it possible?? plz tell me i want dis. my e-mail id is z.ephyr89@yahoo.com plz reply i am in 6th month 2nd trimester.
hehe good question
February 24, 2009 by Anonymous, 18 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 34802
lol you are not on crack. haha
it is possible because Hazel/Green (bb) eyes are the same recessive allelle as Blue eyes (bb) so your father must have the heterozygous trait for brown eyes (Bb) and your mother homozygous (bb).
I cannot explain the blond hair though. I think it could be a long lost trait from way way back in your family heritage and it just showed now. =]
3 green, 2 blue
February 22, 2009 by Anonymous, 18 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 34761
I am an African-American woman with green eyes,reddish brown hair . People asks me all the time are they contacts. I guess they think it's rare. My white grandfather had green eyes, and my mother and father's were brown. I am the only one out of my 4 siblings with green eyes. My husband is white with blue eyes, and two of my kids have green eyes but my youngest daughter has blue eyes, fair skin and freckles. Some people think that's very strange too, but I think it's all in the genes.
What about me??
February 18, 2009 by Anonymous, 19 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 34663
Myself and my husband has dark brown eyes and so do our parents and grand parents.
Is there any chance for us to have a light eyed baby?
Due to some health probs, I have conceived through medical help. Does this affect anything??
Brown eyed baby
February 16, 2009 by Anonymous, 19 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 34622
You know this why??
lil boy with blue eyes....
February 15, 2009 by Anonymous, 19 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 34605
the lil boy has blue eyes.....the mommy & daddy have dark brown black eyes....the mommys mom has green eyes and the mommys daddy has dark brown black eyes.....the mommy has been known for cheating....daughter # 1 green eyes / daughter # 2 dark brown-black eyes....lil boy has sky blue eyes..... hmmm??
what do you think
p-53 Gene in skin Tanning
February 14, 2009 by Anonymous, 19 weeks 6 days ago
Comment id: 34574
I'm researching as to which european races carry the p-53 gene that tans our skin.
My father is definately northern european as he freckles and burns easily and our surname is english but my mom while caucasian tans fairly dark easy as do i when out in the sun so we have the activated p-53 Gene so my question is she and her liniage possibly mediterranian caucasian (Italian or Roman maybe) or are there other races who can tan and then lighten up depending on the sun exposure.
Thanks !
harry
are you on crack!?? it
February 13, 2009 by Anonymous, 20 weeks 7 hours ago
Comment id: 34557
are you on crack!?? it happened didn't it? you sister hasn't bleached her hair has she? she's not wearing contacts is she? well, then i'd sa its pretty damn possible!
Brown eyes and hazel eyes, brown hair = Blue??
February 4, 2009 by Anonymous, 21 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 34220
My mother and father both have brown hair. My mother has dark brown eyes and my father hazel. Neither grandparents have blue eyes or blond hair. My sister has bright blue eyes and bleach blond hair... Is this possible??
blue eyes
January 28, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 34071
thank you for your help
Eye color is complex
January 28, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 2 days ago
Comment id: 34070
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_color
Yes, you can have a blue-eyed child.
January 27, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 3 days ago
Comment id: 33974
If you husband's grandfather has blue eyes, than your husband carries this trait as well. Chances are, you have blue/green eyes somewhere in your family tree as well.
Have 4 children and see. If all are born with brown eyes, than a good chance that your brown- eyed ancestry is EXTREMELY dominant.
blue or brown eyes?
January 25, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 5 days ago
Comment id: 33938
Please read Mendel's theory. I have really blue eyes and neither of my parents did. However, my paternal grandmother did and my maternal grandfather did. My brother has brown eyes and his wife also. Neither of his 6 children had 'light' eyes, I married a man with green eyes and both my children have blue eyes. My daughter married a man with dark eyes and neither of her children had blue or green eyes. However, if she would have continue to have kids one of them may definitely will have been born with blue eyes, because it is a recessive gene and the probability of statistics indicate that is a possibility. Just remember...'dark' eyes are more dominant.
2 brown eyed parents can make
January 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 23 weeks 5 hours ago
Comment id: 33913
2 brown eyed parents can make a blue-eyed baby, however 2 blue-eye parents can never make a brown eyed baby because blue eyes are recessive and brown eyes are dominant... it has to do with punett squares...
BLUE EYES
January 19, 2009 by Anonymous, 23 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 33835
MY HUSBAND HAS LIGHT BROWN EYES IN THE SUN THEY CAN PASS AS GREEN AND HIS PARENTS HAVE BROWN EYES BUT HIS GRANDFATHER HAS BLUE EYES. I HAVE DARK BROWN EYES AND SO DO MY PARENTS AND GRANDPARENTS. CAN WE HAVE A BLUE EYE BABY?
No cheating
January 12, 2009 by Anonymous, 24 weeks 4 days ago
Comment id: 33723
There is no cheating, sigh
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