Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Eye Color Explained: Everything you know is wrong
Discover Magazine ^ | March 13, 2007 | Boonsri Dickinson

Posted on 05/31/2009 1:23:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

What most people know about the inheritance of eye color is that brown comes from a dominant gene (needing one copy only) and blue from a recessive gene (needing two copies). University of Queensland geneticist Rick Sturm suggests that the genetics are not so clear. "There is no single gene for eye color," he says, "but the biggest effect is the OCA2 gene." This gene, which controls the amount of melanin pigment produced, accounts for about 74 percent of the total variation in people's eye color.

Sturm has recently shown that the OCA2 gene itself is influenced by other genetic components. After gene-typing about 3,000 people, Sturm found that how OCA2 is expressed -- and how much pigment a person has -- is strongly linked to three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), or single letter variations, in a DNA sequence near the OCA2 gene. That suggests a more complicated story than the blue-recessive/brown-dominant model of eye color. "For example, among individuals carrying the SNP sequence "TGT" at all three locations on both copies of the gene, 62 percent were blue-eyed," says Sturm's colleague David Duffy. By contrast, only 21 percent of individuals carrying only one TGT copy at each location and 7.5 percent of those lacking the TGT entirely had blue eyes.

Depending on the particular combination of SNPs inherited, a person can have a range of OCA2 activity that lands them on the spectrum between blue and brown eyes. What about green eyes? "Green eyes probably represent the interaction of multiple variants within the OCA2 and in other genes, including perhaps the red-hair gene," Duffy says.

(Excerpt) Read more at discovermagazine.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: blueeyes; freckles; gingergene; godsgravesglyphs; helixmakemineadouble; mutation; neandertal; neandertals; neanderthal; neanderthals; redhair
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-120 last
To: SunkenCiv; Larry Lucido

Famous Heterochromes

Alexander the Great
Anastasius I of the Byzantine Empire
Dan Aykroyd
Kate Bosworth
Michael Flatley
Louis Émile Javal
Mila Kunis
Oded Kattash
Tim McIlrath
Les Murray
Pacho O’Donnell
Max Scherzer
Jane Seymour
Kiefer Sutherland
Christopher Walken


101 posted on 05/31/2009 4:28:24 PM PDT by Perdogg (Sarah Palin-Liz Cheney 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 86 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
I’m darker than the darkest, like rich columbian coffee. Or manure, depending on what I’ve just said to somebody...

*******************

One of my friends back in the day was Sicilian. His eyes were almost black. I like the coffee reference, though. :)

102 posted on 05/31/2009 4:30:12 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 99 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
My parents and siblings all have brilliant, beautiful blue eyes.

Mine are pea-green. Iraqis have called me "eyuni bazuna." (Eyes of a cat.)

Go figure.

103 posted on 05/31/2009 4:31:18 PM PDT by Allegra ( Never argue with an idiot. They bring you down to their level and beat you with experience.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido; SunkenCiv
This is Mila Kunis


104 posted on 05/31/2009 4:32:19 PM PDT by Perdogg (Sarah Palin-Liz Cheney 2012)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Perdogg

The daughter of one of my coworkers has cat eyes. Her pupils are vertical slits, similar to those of a cat. When she went up for her physical before joining the Air Force, the doctors thought she was wearing contacts.


105 posted on 05/31/2009 4:36:28 PM PDT by Stonewall Jackson (Put your trust in God; but mind to keep your powder dry. - Oliver Cromwell)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

I once saw a picture of a Mongoloid girl with blond hair and brown eyes. Very unusual. I also saw a pic of a Pakistani kid with blue eyes and blond streaks in his dark hair. Although it's not *too* unusual for Pakis, Afghans, and Persians to have lighter hair and eyes; they are Indo-Europeans like you and me after all. You can even find Arabs with blue or green eyes, but it's rarer.

There are some pretty cool animals with blue eyes.

Zebra (copy & paste URL to see image at full size to better see the eyes):



Snake: (There was a really good pic w/a close-up of the eyes but I can't seem to find it)



Koala:



106 posted on 05/31/2009 5:40:28 PM PDT by G8 Diplomat (I'm learning Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashtu, and Russian so someday you won't have to)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EyeGuy

Never went back to the doctor, but believe me, I looked at them enough during the Pink Eye to know that they definitely changed color, and it was even obvious to people who know me and they noticed the change. They are not as light as they were after the Pink Eye. I had it in one eye then the other then back to the first one. That stuff nearly killed me! The eye color changed when a friend of mine had it, too.

Recent eye test and there is nothing wrong with my eyes.


107 posted on 05/31/2009 6:57:41 PM PDT by Shire
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: G8 Diplomat

Maybe 15 years ago, the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans had some white alligators with blue eyes — really freaky looking!


108 posted on 05/31/2009 7:10:09 PM PDT by RedWhiteBlue
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 106 | View Replies]

To: RedWhiteBlue

Wow, that’s cool!

I once saw a picture of a blue-eyed white ferret as well, but now I can’t find it.


109 posted on 05/31/2009 7:49:27 PM PDT by G8 Diplomat (I'm learning Arabic, Farsi, Urdu, Pashtu, and Russian so someday you won't have to)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 108 | View Replies]

To: Allegra

They are NOT pea-green, you Moron! They are jade-turquoise (depending on if you’re pissed off or not)...and they are beautiful...


110 posted on 05/31/2009 7:50:04 PM PDT by wazoo1031
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 103 | View Replies]

To: Allegra

However, they are green and awesome!


111 posted on 05/31/2009 7:56:44 PM PDT by wazoo1031
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 110 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

My eyes are green as grass.
lol


112 posted on 05/31/2009 8:33:32 PM PDT by Shadowstrike (Be polite, Be professional, but have a plan to kill everyone you meet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Monkey Face

My Mom was a green eyed red head, my Dad black haired with dark brown eyes.

I was a dark blonde (silver now) with green eyes (bright green like leaves on a tree).
My bro has beautiful hazel eyes that look blue depending on what he wears.


113 posted on 05/28/2016 1:55:06 PM PDT by MS.BEHAVIN (Women who behave rarely make history)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Monkey Face

Same here.
*sigh*


114 posted on 05/28/2016 1:57:03 PM PDT by MS.BEHAVIN (Women who behave rarely make history)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: Allegra

Hey you!
Long time no see!
I have seen your beautiful green eyes, and they do NOT look pea green!
They are about the same shade as mine!


115 posted on 05/28/2016 2:02:48 PM PDT by MS.BEHAVIN (Women who behave rarely make history)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 103 | View Replies]

To: MS.BEHAVIN

My son’s eyes are what his cousin’s wife from Chile called “honey eyes.” Almost a golden color. His dad’s eyes were blue.

And my six sibs ALL had the dark brown eyes of my mother. Not me, though!


116 posted on 05/28/2016 2:43:23 PM PDT by Monkey Face (We must never allow our burdens to obscure our blessings. Jeffrey R Holland)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 113 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

117 posted on 05/28/2016 2:50:11 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We have the fight of our lives coming up to save our nation!" ~ Jim Robinson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Daffynition

Black Lab — the wellspring of the Nation of Islam. /weirdjk


118 posted on 05/28/2016 4:51:19 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (I'll tell you what's wrong with society -- no one drinks from the skulls of their enemies anymore.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 117 | View Replies]

To: Monkey Face

My father had brown eyes and black hair. My mother had grey-blue eyes and brown hair. I have brown/auburn hair and blue-grey eyes.

My paternal and maternal grandfathers had brown/auburn hair and blue or blue-grey eyes.


119 posted on 05/28/2016 4:55:17 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv
*The eyes have it* ;)


120 posted on 05/28/2016 7:44:17 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We have the fight of our lives coming up to save our nation!" ~ Jim Robinson)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 118 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-120 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson