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.”
Let us embrace all the beautiful colors of our lives. The colors of our eyes don’t really matter as long as they’re healthy.
Our most beautiful colors are located within.
Let us embrace all the beautiful colors of our lives. The colors of our eyes don’t really matter because our most beautiful colors can only be found within.
I found this blog intriguing and highly informative. Initially my interest was in the condition heterochromia iridis a condition (really genetic differentiation- in my humble opinion) in which the individual iris colors of one person will vary. I choose to ignore the preferential comments as well as the insulting ones. My genetics are also an interesting “cocktail” as Professor Eiberg so eloquent yet playfully described :o)
I have hazel eyes where does that leave me?
Mixed white/black perfectly.
I have blue eyes and I like to party, does that help?
Sad. I came here to learn about eye color and I see more racism. Of course, anytime there is an article about eye color, skin color, nationalities, you’ll find racism. Alot of black people catagorize whites as being all the same. “The white devil” is now what we are. Are all black people on crack? Are all black people shooting each other over $10.00? Can’t one black person speak proper English? Doesn’t any black person have an IQ over 70? Generalization. It’s wrong d. Baxter. Leave your neighborhood and explore outside of your racist city, friends, family, etc. I wish you success in finding peace and happiness.
Every single person in this world has a common ancestor. We are all at least 30th cousins. That’s only 32 generations ago for the most distant of relations.
@d.baxter you can write English and use a computer yet you have the opinions of an uneducated tool. you ‘recon’ the ‘gardens of babylon were due to light blue eyed people’ think about what you are saying, you ‘recon’ what basis is that?
I have blue eyes and I want nothing more than a utopian society, that has no money and therefore greed, a resource economy that only cares for research and human/spiritual advancement.
industrialization is equally relevant in the soviet union were communism (unlike capitalism) did not promote consumerism or materialism yet you have neglected this.
I too dislike the shallow materialistic consumer driven modern world that is totally global and is as/if not more prevalent in the east than the west. I put this down to the fact that I am enlightened to this and people who think everything is fine are ignorant drones. I am however not an ignorant racist like you d.baxter who blames everything on people with a genetic difference. You need to face facts that in the future countries are just going to be lines on a map and nothing more, and 70% of people like you are ignorant drones that are going to get left behind with your small minded attitude to your fellow humans, get educated, get travelled to different corners of the planet not just your small minded prison, get some friends that have blue eyes that are not materialistic and discuss this with them and listen to them laugh at your ill-founded claims. You need to open your mind to what is really important which is not what you ‘recon’ happened in the past are you mentally ill?
‘blue eyed devil’ derogatory term that I do not deserve on the basis I am not accountable for ruining the world like you are suggesting.
i read and absorbed all that,im impressed,one of the best things i have seen
i find all light blue eyed people to be,talkative,zealous,have an uncontrollable ability to absorbed information,even when not trying,materialistic,light blue eyed devils no,industrialist yes,i recon the gardens of babylon were due to light blue eyed people,i wonder if there will be a way to date when the first light blue eyed devil appeared on earth and worked toward giving us industrialization wealth via a disposition of being materialistic,we owe that ancestor a round of applause,
I’m a blued eyed devil and happen to be crap at absorbing information and have a non-materialistic ideaology. So don’t make over generalisatons based on crap you racist bastard
I happen to find blue eyes a genetic mutation of beauty, we blued eyed devils appear more sexy and seductive.
You in a shell.
A your used poor bible knowledge= christian
B you used recon=souther descent
C your racist,and didnt realize it=Afro-American
So I had very blue eyes until I was about 4 years old until they changed to green. My mom has brown eyes and my dad has blue. I’ve always wondered why my eye color changed so late. Any ideas?
There are multiple genes that control for eye color. The main gene is Brown dominant – blue recessive. The second gene is either Green dominant -blue recessive. So for your dad to have blue eyes, he has to have all blue versions as a single copy of either brown or green would lead him to have brown or green eyes. So he is bb-bb. Your mom has brown eyes, so I believe hers could be a number of combinations that would lead to your genotype BB-Gb or Bb-Gb. You inherited a copy of green from mom and blue from dad. Babies are born without the final say in eye color until the age of 3 or so, when the deposition of melanin finalizes. So your eyes started blue and changed to green as the melanin was deposited.
Ugh, so disappointing to see so many pointless creationist arguments in comments yet again. People will be having these arguments forever (and have been having them for long enough up until now), and somehow I doubt it’s to try and understand each other’s points of view.
Anyway, the articles interesting. I don’t know much about genetics, but I wonder if there’s any way to tell which brown-eyed people also come from that ancestor (apart from seeing whether they have any blue eyed relatives, that is) and I wonder what percentage of Caucasians (whatever their eye colour) have that blue-eyed human as their common ancestor.
Greetings
I am A negative blood type,my eye colour changes from blue to green and vice vercer.
God bless.
you might find it odd but many of the oddities you seem to disclose here are really products of infidelity.
carbon dating is a joke. understand stratigraphy and how the Cambrian Explosion Disproves Evolution (its facts not ideas) and shows the lie of carbon dating calculator how science and darwin and several others actually made up the lies to gain fame and fortune and also in the writings of darwin he discloses his goal to make the Bible a untrue. for the smart ones like me it did not work, i got the facts myself. do the same and do not believe evil liars in the science world.
you have been lied to and science makes money on lies like global warming and evolution. if your smart you would investigate what you believe instead of believing lies that are spoon feed to you! if you want to know about the changing heat patterns investigate h.a.a.r.p. the technology that shocks our atmosphere regularly just for fun. it has all but ruined the ozone layer. now your going to be blamed and pay for the destruction of the ozone layer! but stupid you believes the lies that your the cause and stupid your feels so good your doing your part to save the planet. what a joke you are. be informed your look stupid.
And whats the offering plate for u dumb f***,,,,Science is a trick,think about what u just said.
science will prove noah had these blue eyes. the brown eyes came from the wives of noahs sons. the wives were not of the pure good bloodline and that is why there is so much variations in brown.
noah was choosen for his faithfulness and he had not been corrupted with blood that came from mating with satanic beings, he was the only one God choose and his wife and sons and sons wives.
that is why 98% of all crimes are done by those who have brown eyes!
get the story right and quit lying to the people.
The article isn’t saying that only those with blue eyes are exclusively related to each other. Someone with blue eyes doesn’t have to have a sister who also has blue eyes. But it’s saying that everyone with blue eyes has the same common ancestor.
For example, if I were to say that all the girls in Mrs. Alba’s class scored over 85 on the last test, it doesn’t mean that there weren’t any boys who scored over 85 too. Just that every girl did. It’s not exclusive.
I thought you didn’t believe in science. Didn’t you say in an above comment not to believe the evil liars of science? If so, how can you say (and believe) now to your convenience, that science will prove noah had blue eyes?
And maybe, the reason why 98% of all crimes are done by those with brown eyes is because the percentage of those with blue eyes is very low to begin with?
If you want to talk statistics, then did you know that less than 1% of prison populations in the United States are atheist? Are you then suggesting that those with religion are morally less upright than those who don’t believe in God?
My eyes have been blue all my life and just last year they started turning green! What’s going on? It’s not just my surroundings they are actually turning green. Is there any way I can make my body produce the chemical for blue eyes again?
dip it in some paint
so i have a question that has been bothering me my whole life. so i am an african american 100% but when u think of it you think of someone darker skin dark hair and dark eyes right, well to a certain extent, but ok i have a really light complexion, blonde hair and blue eyes…..although i do take after my mom a whole lot but there is one thing different she has brown eyes and so did my father. so my question is how did i get blue eyes? no one in my family had blue eyes i have been up and down are family tree and no one i find had or has blue eyes. this is just one of those things that have been in the back of my mind…
Yes it is possible, my husband and I both have dark brown eyes, yet my youngest son has hazel green eyes and a much lighter skin than both of us.
It is simple genetics.
Blue eyes are recessive and don’t show up if there is a dominant gene present.
This means that your parents were both, if I may use the correct terminology, hybrids of Brown and blue Eyes.
This is written Bb
The following shows that it IS possible for you to have blue Eyes.
B__b_
B|BB|Bb|
b|Bb|bb|
BB means 100% brown hair
Bb means brown eyes but the blue eyes are present
bb means blue eyes
so you are one of four people who have bb when their parents have the gene Bb.
If you don’t understand look up the “Punnet Sqaure”.
Yes this tells me that the common ancestor of these white blue eyes devild was the son of Adam and he was marked with the mark of cain, therefore the blue eyed devils. It just maybe a possiblity
all i no for certain is a cleft chin is 100% inherited from ur father go figure. Found that out when i new my mother was a whore. lmao
Thank you so much, this was very interesting. I was actually born in Spain ( not telling you when though!) but was moved around europe and lastly settled in Britain when I was 6. I dont remember much of the few years I was in spain, but the delicious smell of spanish food always seems to ring a bell in me or something. It’s weird how I dont remember anything except the smells,isn’t it! I even found a website dedicated to spanish recipes, which gave me great delight and thought I ought to share. Anyway, thank you again. I’ll get my son to add your feed to my rss app…