All blue-eyed humans have common ancestor

by

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.”


Substack subscription form sign up

458 thoughts on “All blue-eyed humans have common ancestor”

  1. What about herterochromic peoples like myself? One of my eyes is deep brown, whilst the other is contented being a green/brown/hazel sort of colour; but what if one of your eyes is blue and one is brown? I do tours on bullyings of Heterochromic persons such as myself and have seen a blue and brown eye more than once. Why would this be? If all blue-eyed people have an ansestor, surely heterochromia chanlenges this find.

    • Simply because all blue-eyed people share a common ancestor does not mean that breeding between blue-eyed and brown-eyed people did not occur. There is a (slightly)similar scenario in female calico cats. The sex chromosomes “X” and “Y” determine an individual’s gender. If one has two “X” chromosomes, they are female. If one has one “X” chromosome and one “Y” chromosome, they are male. In calico cats, the “X” chromosome also contains the gene for spot color. Because there really is no use for the second “X” chromosome the females posses, it is essentially turned off, although not in a uniform way across the body. This means that if the first “X” chromosome contains the gene for orange fur, and the second the gene for black fur, orange spots indicate follicles where the cells have turned off the second “X” chromosome, and vice-versa.

      This is not to say that heterochromia is directly analogous to what I’ve just explained, but it does mean that heterochromia does not disprove Professor Eiberg’s research.

  2. ok so then it should be possible to go back and find that one ancestor?right??And for all the sciene and religon stuff,I believe to each there own..and we will all find out one day if our believes are true!!

    • no you could not find that one ancestor the world does not have genealogies that go back that far….duh! that is just plain stupid.

    • why would it be the same for green eyed people? blue and green are different colors just like brown and blue are different colors. you cannot make that comparrison…duh!

    • ur so stupid, u and ur sister having different color eyes does not mean you dont have common ancestors, it just means she got different genes than you

    • That just means that you inherited the gene required to have blue eyes and she did not. Don’t be an idiot. Learn what your talking about before you try to disprove actual science with stupid, immature comments. Thanks.

  6. well couldnt we consider humans as gods? we can create mass population cities, we can cross over water, we can destroy mountains, we can kill anything and everything, Humans can controll this planet and really we could control the universe, We massively effect everything around us.

    • is that seriously your “theory”? where did that come from? you have a very distorted spirituality…

  7. I found it interesting when I read this comment: “…science and religion doesnt mix its not supposed to they are on total oppisites…”

    On the contrary, science and religion are very much related; in fact, science can be used as evidence of Creation. For example, Saturn’s {unstable} rings are made up of ice fragments and rock – which are constantly being pulled into Saturn’s surface due to the gravitational pull of the planet; therefore, they will not last. If the solar system was billions of year old, don’t you think those rings would already be gone by now?

    This is one of many examples that shows us how religion {more of Creationism} is related to science. We can use information that scientists – Creationists or Evolutionists – have gathered to support a solar system that was created thousands of years ago verses millions/billions of years ago. The evidence of a young solar system is out there, you just have to research it.

    • wow are you serious religion is a product of time and convineince. greek mythology is only a mythology because we dont believe in it anymore but back them zues was god of gods and so on…science however is what we use to determine what is real and what has happend with proof or else it is just a theory or a good bed time story

      • we think that greek mythology was fake, but 2000 years into the future what will they think of God or our “science” today.

        • By then I think Jesus will have returned. I pray that your heart is softened so that you may receive the truth.

          • amen, he will return soon. wide is the highway to destruction and the majority are on it. we can thank
            our Lord we have been found! we pray for those here
            who insist on believing lies. your blind and asleep.
            your only hope is in Jesus or Yeshua as he is known in hebrew. He will save you if your call out to Him.

          • Jesus was a natural born Jew. He died so it’s impossible for him to be the savior! A requirement for the savior is that he must have accomplished certain things in his life. Jesus did not! Not trying to start any arguments but this is truly what I beleive in.

      • WOW YOU ARE SUCH A IDIOT! SCIENCE IS THEORY! OTHER WISE THIS GUY HAD TRACTED EVERY BLUE EYED PERSON IN THE WORLDS ANCESTORS! THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE! ALSO THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION! HELLO IT HAS THE WORD THEORY IN IT! SCIENC HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH FACTS! JUST EVIDENCE!

      • you have a vocabulary problem. mythology IS mythology, we do not think it is anything but mythology. however, myth does not mean “lie.” The ancient greeks worshipped their gods and goddesses just like your grandma goes to church every sunday. your grandmother does not think the church teaches mythology, the church teaches religion. to the ancient greeks, what we call mythology was their religion.

    • coookoooo. crazy. so carbon dating is just made up? scientists have been carbon dating human remains back over 4 million years ago? made up?

      • A true scientist will say there are laws, theories, and hypothesis. Find me a scientist that says carbon dating is a law. Carbon dating is a theory not a fact

    • Well, yeah, theoretically, but how long does it take for the ring’s orbit to deteriorate? And further, how is that evidence of ‘creationism’?

      “We can use information that scientists – Creationists or Evolutionists – have gathered to support a solar system that was created thousands of years ago verses millions/billions of years ago.” — There’s hypotheses, yes. However, there’s far more overwhelming evidence to the contrary (take an astronomy class).

      Without getting to much into Quantum Physics, Gravity is theorized as a particle called a ‘Graviton’. Of the four fundamental forces of the universe (Strong/weak nuclear force, electromagnetism, and gravity), it’s considered the strongest. This may seem confusing, seeing as how just about everything on the planet is capable of overcoming gravity on a daily basis. However, we’re still affected by stellar objects billions of light years away through their gravitational pull (such as the Super massive Black Hole at the center of the Milky Way).

      Religion is an organized structure based around faith; and faith means accepting something that you cannot prove (that’s why it’s called faith). Science, on the other hand, is a very strict process of hypothesizing and finding proofs.

      Creationism has nothing to do with Science — and here’s why: Creationists make conjectures based on science and conclude that there ‘must’ be an intelligent designer, when they cannot *directly* prove that there is one, which is faith; not fact. Tachyons are more plausible than an Intelligent Designer.

      • money will not save your soul. hell is real, why not approach it like a science and read the near death experiences of atheist?
        you will find the information disproves all you think is real

    • You do know that God created more humans than just Adam and Eve…they were just the only ones in Eden and they are the ancestors of Joseph (the man who adopted Jesus or Nazareth). All the races didnt come from just two peiple. Plus whenever Cain is sent away and marries he’s not marring his sister.

        • People are stubborn. If we needed a scientific method for everything in our lives, how would we survive. How do we know there is no god. What proof can science give for anything at the moment. If I said that the aliens everyone is talking about could be the god or gods of the past, then should you still worship them? If I said that they are watching us right now and know everything we do because their technology is so advanced that our information goes directly into their database, then what would you say to dispute the fact that you should worship, and if all you know is passed down knowledge then why should you dispute it. The naturul thing for humans to do is deny aything that they have been told

        • science has proven prayer works……… read the facts.
          i guess thats all coincidence to you though. you will find some way to discredit that too.

      • thank you science and religion doesnt mix its not supposed to they are on total oppisites of the spectrum

        • The bible and science are very intertwined. It is this age of intellectual narcissism that people are blind to the truths that can be found in the bible and other ancient texts that actually reveal truth and reiterate scientific theory. It is the perversion of the truth through religious tradition and dogma that lead people to thing they are contradictory.

          • God isn’t real you spackers! It’s just some story made up before the police and justice courts to make people behave themselves. 55% of Americans (I’m not an American thank God-see what I did there?) believe that the Bible is a true and accurate, historical account! WTF?! This is the reason why most Americans are dense and think all Muslims are terrorists bla bla. Look at it this way, we tell kids there’s a Santa watching them so that they be good little sh*ts for mummy and daddy. Same for adults and religion! The sooner everyone drops the whole “my God is better than your Allah” rubbish, we will all see that science made us through years of evolution and we will stop fighting in the name of religion and just pure hate each other because of what country you come from! Like the French, they could all be Buddhist for all I care I’d still hate ’em!

    • that would mean that we were all inbred, many problems would arise from marrying your sisters or brothers and would be apparent today if that were true

      • don’t know if you’re the same “anonymous” as above who blasted Americans. But i’d put $ on the fact that if you’re european dumbass could get residency in the U.S you’d be first in line. Or maybe you’re one of those people who loves living under a feudal system… you don’t have to strive to achieve, you wait for your neighbors to work hard so you can get your government handout. and crappy handout at that. ask your goverment to teach you dental hygiene, your teeth are crappy, and your breath smells like someone’s dirty ass. and in general, you people need to learn to shave, bathe and occassionally brush and floss.

    • A blue-eyed child can come from parents who both have brown eyes. Blue eyes are recessive therefore if you have one brown eye gene and one blue eye gene, you will have brown eyes but, you are still a carrier. If two people who have brown eyes have a child together, there is a 25% chance it will have blue eyes. All it takes is for both parents to pass on the blue eye gene and not the brown eye gene.

      • I suppose if a couple who both had blue eyes had a brown-eyed baby, then there would be cause for concern…However, I think it’s ridiculous when people expect their children to look like them…they can end up anywhere in the spectrum…

    • Stat’s just silly. I was born with true grey eyes and my parents both have brown eyes. My paternal was test done when I was 6 years old as a result of an injury and states that my father is 100% biologically my true father! So I did a little research of my own and discovered that 1 in every 500 children born to parents with brown eyes are born with different coloured eyes. The millions of kids that are born out there every day a few hundred are born with different coloured eyes! So it’s common enough!

  12. @BriBri & Andrew: My family also has an interesting mix of appearances. One grandmother had honey colored hair and bright turquoise eyes, medium fair skin. Her husband had black eyes, black hair and golden tobacco color skin year round. Their 4 children: One blue eyed light blonde who tanned, two dark skinned, dark haired, dark eyes, one dark skinned, brown hair, lighter eyes.
    My other grandmother had black hair, black eyes, odd colored skin that looked greenish grey but tanned very dark if she got the least amount of sun. Her husband had blue eyes and dark brown hair with light skin. Their children: one had black hair, dark eyes and skin. The other had charcoal brown hair and hazel green eyes that could look grass green, greenish brown, amber brown & rarely blueish grey with his mother’s skin that tanned dark copper. With all that dark hair, eyes & skin I got grey blue eyes, brindle hair (light blondish, light & dark brown, cinnamon, some black that bleaches reddish gold in southern climes & that bleached to a strawberry blonde when I was a kid) and ridiculous pale skin that shows every vein and becomes lobster colored with the least amount of heat or sun. Full compliment of freckles that not one of my cousins or sister has! (My sister was mistaken for African American by African Americans in Virgina, my mother mistaken for Mexican by Californian Chicanos). Family origins mainly from the British Isles, plus Mechlenburg, pre-Germany Swabia & Black Forest, some Dutch & Swiss who migrated via a few generations in France, a Jewish line, and possibly a Hispanic and eastern European factor in there based on inscriptions on an old family tintype and another old photo. My family surely exemplifies the great American melting pot. I get a kick out of the fact that 2 of my 4 grandparents had the rarest eye color (not counting violet & red), & which is my favorite. [Sorry my post is so long].

    • I believe my grandparents on my mother’s side, both had brown eyes and every one of the children except my mother the oldest, my father’s parents were gray eyed father and brown eyed mother. so he is blue eyed. My siblings and I are all blue eyed, however, my father ,my oldest sister and i all have a brown spot in the lower right iris, very noticeable, but no explanation

  14. So what if your grandfather has blue eyes but you have brown does that mean you are related to all the blue eyes people as well?

    • Yes, the blue eye gene is recessive to the brown eye gene and green eyes are recessive to both! This means you have to have two blue eye genes or a blue eye gene and a green eye gene to have blue eyes. I’m guessing most OR all caucasians have that same blue-eyed common ancestor….

      • So, if a person has just one blue-eyed ancestor, no matter how far back, then they are a decendant of that first blue-eyed human….

  16. so my girlfriend told me tht her eyes r normally a dark borwn color but anytime time she is around me or we talk on the phone her eyes turn a greenish color and i want to know y so can somebody plz answer this this thanks

  17. my girlfriend says that her eyes r normally dark brown but when she is around me or talks to me on the phone they turn a greenish color and i want to know y

  19. Ok, my Grandmother is a very small lady, she has very curly ringlet hair, which is naturally black, she has an almost flat nose with no ridge in it, she also brown eyes, but her skin is pale. her father had bright blue eyes with black straight hair and is very very short and has quite a big bridge in his nose, but very pale skin, but her mother had very curly black hair and is quite tall, with olive skin, and also a flat nose. but her brother had red curly hair, and was tall. Thing is, i have traced the family back quite far, and no sign of anybody coming from a different country, especially my grandmothers father, all born in the UK. and my grandmother has no memory of her mother as she died at childbirth, and she would really like to find out for sure where her foreign look comes from. Anybody got any idea??

    Also, My grandmothers mother had very curly hair, and sodoes my grandmother, but after my grandmother, none of the girls have curky hair, its only the boys, is there a reason that only the males have taken on the curly hair,and it has skipped the females??

    • And my father and his brothers have dark skin, flat noses and very curly hair, and my fathers sisters have straight blonde hair and blue eyes.. although that could possible come from my grandfather. but i have very curly hair, but my sister has dead straight hair, real strange.

    • This is just a guess but, I’m thinking that maybe curly hair is recessive and since women have two x (XX) chromosomes and men have one x and one y (XY) the second x covers up the gene? This would be because the extra tag on the x chromosome is where the gene is located and the y chromosome doesn’t have this tag and therefore no gene to cover it up…this is just like baldness (which is passed by the mother) and colour-blindness (which is FAR more common in males than females).

  20. so everyone in my family is light haired with paper white skin and blue eyes, i on the other hand have dark skin all year round, brown hair and black eyes! blood tests show that my parents are indeed my parents so whats up with me?

Comments are closed.