A person born with albinism has almost no melanin in their skin, hair, and irises. For example, a mutation in the FOXC2 gene is thought to be the reason some people are born with violet eyes.Īnother rare eye color, which might be called pink or red, is the result of albinism. The rarest eye colors are the result of extremely uncommon genetic mutations. Eye colors such as green and hazel are rare but they aren’t actually the rarest. When discussing rare eye colors, it is common for people to bring up other colors they’re likely to have still seen in the general population of their community or at least on television. The term hazel comes from the fact that this eye color looks like a hazelnut. Hazel eyes are sometimes compared to brown, but they are different. It isn’t common for two blue-eyed parents to produce a brown-eyed child, but it is possible. This is not valid, and the reality is more complicated. It was once believed two blue-eyed people could not produce a brown-eyed child, meaning it was previously thought it might be a sign of infidelity if a child attributed to such a couple had brown eyes. The second most common eye color is blue, with an estimated 17 percent of the world’s population having blue eyes. Because of where later genetic mutations originated, lighter eye colors almost exclusively exist among populations with European ancestry.īrown eyed-genes are also generally dominant, meaning a person with brown eyes who produces a child generally has a greater than even chance of producing a child who also has brown eyes. The Most Common Eye Colorsīrown is the most common eye color both worldwide and in the United States, with more than half of people in the world having brown eyes. Brown was also the first eye color in human beings, with the rest coming later as genetic mutations. The gene groupings that cause your eye to have more melanin are the most common, which is why brown is the most common eye color. The actual pigment that gives the eye color is called melanin, which darkens your eye color. Even among people with the “same” eye color, such as blue, these genes can create subtle differences that mean your eye color is as unique as your fingerprints. Melanin is a type of pigment.Ī person’s eye color is actually an expression of dozens of genes (over 60, according to one study). Most of the genes that determine eye color are associated with melanin production. Genetics are responsible for your eye color. But we now know it is much more complicated than this. The common misconception, once believed as fact by scientists, is that eye color was determined by one gene that expressed as brown (a dominant gene) or blue (a recessive gene). Many people believe eye color is determined solely by a single gene, even having been taught as much in school. Two exceptions are albinism, which can cause a person to be significantly sensitive to light, and heterochromia, which is sometimes a sign of more serious health conditions. Overall, it is likely that eye color usually has minimal impact on a person’s health. While some mild health benefits and detriments have been linked to eye color, more research is needed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |