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
you have proven no god either
December 14, 2009 by Anonymous, 1 week 6 days ago
Comment: 47564
@God is not rteal:
you may be carrying the gay gene, i guess god was discredited by you, now don't spread it, i don't want anyone else harmed by that evil little gene.
iTTmDvhePbYdt
December 1, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 46949
ivaedocvunf@gmail.com
VfFzQdzoFuRSw
December 1, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 46929
ivaedocvunf@gmail.com
zNYVyxTnTstEwUQuM
December 1, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 46679
ivaedocvunf@gmail.com
oJuwBMhcUvJjztA
December 1, 2009 by Anonymous, 3 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 46662
ivaedocvunf@gmail.com
pretty sure you're wrong...
November 25, 2009 by Anonymous, 4 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 46508
pretty sure you're wrong...
eye color changing
November 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 4 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 46451
i had blue eyes when i was little but now am possitive that i have green. i think mine changed color
dark eyed child with 2 blue eye light skin & hair parents???
November 14, 2009 by cooknwoman, 6 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 46212
My husband Tim has black hair, dark brown eyes, and olive skin - he can get blackish brown when he gets tanned. His parents (or supposed parents) both have blue eyes - his dad Edward had white blonde hair as a child and his mom Maria had dirty blonde hair. Is this possible??
My husband’s family had money (left by dad's wealthy mom) - well, anyway I called the family's attorney one day to ask questions regarding tax The secretary asked me who I was and I explained that I was Susie – and told her that Maria was Tim's mom - and she said "oh, you mean grandmother" and I said "no, his mom" well, she corrected me again. I was astonished!!! To my knowledge, Maria was my husband’s mom.
Well, then she went on to explain that my husband’s mom & dad died in a car accident one day when they went to the mountains – their car went over the edge and they were killed. She told me she was the one who handled the case – she said my husband was only an infant when it happed. He was born November of 1953. I think she said his parents were in the local mountains, which would be San Bernardino, CA. so I am guessing they may have been in Big Bear.
My husband had a really bad temper – I was not going to tell him – out of fear! He was an only child and he and his mother had a very strained relationship – she never let him out of her sight. She also treated his dad with disrespect and contempt! She would not even share the same butter! Crazy huh??
I am guessing that someone was her son or daughter - I’m also thinking that maybe his dad said something like “oh, go ahead kids – enjoy your day” and now his mom hates him for it – just a guess though based on their relationship or lack of.
I cannot figure out which parent was the maternal side and which the fraternal in order for Tim to have brown eyes. Was the child a son or daughter of Maria?? Was the child a son or daughter of Edward??
My son (Tim’s son) confronted Maria about 15 years since I had the conversation with the secretary (who has since retired – and there is no way to contact her) – Maria denies it but did not even tell me about their conversation. I would have thought she would have at least asked me about it – but nothing – only silence.
That kind of tells me that it must be true.
One thing I forgot to mention – as soon as my son asked her about it – she took him into her room and showed him some papers that supposedly shows that Tim is her child – that is weird in itself??
I have no way of looking up info on a car crash from that time – I have no idea even where to start. I am very curious about the truth, as it is my children’s ancestry afterall!
My husband Tim and I had 2 boys, one with brown eyes and one with dark hazel. I and my parents all have blue eyes.
Any ideas????
Thanks,
Susie
Surely it has more to do with
October 25, 2009 by Anonymous, 9 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 45759
Surely it has more to do with lighting levels than anything. And if you add the fact one persons comment that "blue eyed people produce more vitamin D". Well it is due to lower light levels and as we know we require vitamin D to also prevent depression So maybe the same the same switch that control vitamin D production influences melanin production. Northerners do not require as much melanin anyway to protect us from the sun however we still need to produce the same amount of vitamin D from lower lighting levels.
So obvious......
Matt
Edinburgh, Scotland
BB
October 20, 2009 by Anonymous, 9 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 45625
It takes very little research to learn why one person has two different colored eyes.
Chimerism once had very little understanding in humans, but there has been a lot of enlightenment in Genetics recently.
Also to the people explaining away God...you really can't out think him folks. Those of us who have experienced him KNOW he is there. He is not physical...you have to find him with your spirit. That is another field of study.
Trade
October 12, 2009 by Anonymous, 10 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 45418
I will trade places with you. You can come live in America (California) and I will take your place in Maldives. Ok?
Just blue-eyed people with that ancestor?
October 11, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 10 hours ago
Comment: 45401
Like many other comments here, it seems way too much of a coincidence that blue-eyed and only blue-eyed people descend from this ancestor 10,000 years ago. If the recessive blue gene first appeared in that person, it is most certainly logical that any person who is a carrier of at least one blue-eyed gene also descends from this particular ancestor, no doubt. I can see the article's point in trying to find out where and how the blue-eyed gene arose from the predominant brown-eyed gene which is quite interesting. However, I do not like the implication it gives about the link between this ancient person and blue-eyed people as an isolated entity. After all, there are certainly people who have fully dominant eye color genes, very dark color, and yet still descend from this ancestor.
For example, consider this lineage of descent: a blue-eyed person who descended from this blue-eyed ancestor (or even this particular person) mated with a brown-eyed person and had brown-eyed offspring. Their brown-eyed offspring intermingled with other dark-eyed people and had dark-eyed offspring. This process of continued intermingling with brown-eyed people repeated and ultimately resulted in many dark-eyed (and probably dark hair and dark skin) people carrying all dominant eye color genes who still descend from this ancient person. So while it is arguable that such people may not be related to this ancestor through eye color genes, they still carry at least a minute number of genes somewhere in their genome of this ancestor. Furthermore, these people could really stretch their argument by stating that whatever little bit of genes they inherited from this ancestor are in every cell of their body and while the genes may not control eye color directly, the cells in the iris of the eyes still contain the bit of genes from that ancestor.
Statically speaking, it is said that many people with European ancestry are descended from Charlemagne and he only lived about 1,200 years ago. Many more people descend from the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt who lived 4,000 to 5,000 years ago. Considering this criteria, the bottom line is you can’t help but think that the vast majority of the people in the world descend from someone who lived 10,000 years ago including people of all races (Whites, Blacks, Arabs, Indians, Asians, and many other indigenous people-you name it).
Since the first people arose in Africa, they had dark eyes due to the climate; hence brown eyes (and all other dark genes) came from Africa. But my mom has green eyes and I am wondering where and how that gene mutated? It this gene can be traced to a certain ancient person, how long ago did this person live and what geographical area did this take place? The same research should be done on all other eye colors like grey, hazel, amber, and even the rare red and violet colors.
GOD
October 7, 2009 by Anonymous, 11 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 45304
I understand how people can argue that the Bible is fact and that beliefs not even extrapolated by them are concrete facts: They are physiologically incapable of individual thought.
But so many obviously intelligent people swallow these claims as well. From such an early age, thoughtlessness was presented as a virtue to so many people. The Catholic Church threatened Galilaeo's life because he had ideas that could prompt others to think for themselves instead of blind acceptance of antiquated belief systems. They shouldn't have worried: people cannot deal with anything but what they are used to. Some people are predisposed to creativity, some are not. Some are capable of absolute belief in a singular truth, while others are capable of doubt. To some people hypothetical situations are for the classroom alone, while for others they represent the uncertainties in the real world.
The other problem is that the modern world has removed too many selective pressures. In a wilderness situation, a creatively-inclined individual would probably survive and reproduce better than a person predisposed to rigidly upholding traditions. In religious communities (eg. where absistinance only sex-ed is practiced), birth rates are significantly higher than in other areas and family sizes tend to be larger. The moral majority is trying to disprove evolution through its own self-effacing culture. Irony anyone?
Religion has a place. But it has to remember it.
Love
@ Rteal what is that
October 3, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 45201
Well if you use actual science, the science coming from peer reviewed journals, kind of science that can be replicated by you, me, or anyone else who tries it, the kind of science that you can prove and that you don't just need faith in, your Bible has some chronological errors. I am not saying your G*d doesn't exist (though I don't believe he/she/it/they do/does), all I am saying is that through the use of science and tracing back the mitochondrial DNA, it can be shown that there was a "mitochondrial Eve" that we have likely all descended, though this event does not occur within the times of the bible.
Unfortunately concrete physical evidence of macroevolution at every step isn't readily available (today). This would take 1000's of years to develop, and there are missing links in fossil records,etc. Fortunately though,as time passes on for thousands and thousands of years, there will be an opportunity for it to be proven. During that time, people such as yourself, theists, will have no way of proving God's existence. Eventually people will wisen up, forget ancient ways of religion, and we can all live happily together on this planet as atheists.
That day is long off, our bodies will likely be decomposed at that time, and considering that there is no afterlife, just as there aren't any fairies dancing about my room right now, its not very important to me to argue about existence of nonexistent things anymore. :) Take care.
Years and years in the past,
October 3, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 45196
Years and years in the past, they could not explane the things we know today.
For explaning, they did found that there was a higher being who did ol the things we see.
And they called it 'God"
Now, we can explane the things, so we do not need to belive in a higher being, also know as god.
Rteal what is that?
October 1, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 3 days ago
Comment: 45154
What has genetics got to do with disproof of God ????? Your mind is blocked to the truth by Satan. You have not read the bible very well as it looks, David in the bible was promised things for his blood line ! I guess that would have to be genetics?Things do evolve as a natural process of God for things to adapted to changes as time goes on but they do not change into different species. I pray you come to know how wrong you are. If you do not believe,
read the bible for your self and then see what you think.
theyre not identical twins
October 1, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 3 days ago
Comment: 45153
identical twins come from two embryos that are from the same egg and sperm which split after fertilisation, therefore they share 100% of genes, making them natural clones. so theyre not identical twins if the have different coloured skin.
eyes
September 29, 2009 by Anonymous, 12 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 45086
eyes don't really change color. sometimes they will appear to because of lighting or surrounding colors. when you cry, the pink around your eyes makes the iris look green.
WANTED: Blue Eyed Blond Kids
September 27, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 45032
I'm from the Maldives (Asia) and I've brown eyes and black hair and tanned skin (not dark yer not whity-white. Ever from my childhood I've dream t of having blue eyed blond kids. I don't know why?
As I grew up little by little I came to know that our country was a place where people (travelers on ships - long long ago) came and stayed for months and a mixed raced was formed.
Amongst the travelers were Middle Eastern, African, Western, Far Eastern and South Asians. Of course the South Asians were the dominant and the first were the least and as a result we don't have any surviving blonds or blue eyes.
However, our skins are in ranges of fair, brown and dark. Our hair is either brown or black. The eyes are also mainly brown, black but there are lighter colours like gray too.
Much later I noticed that my skin was a bit reddish like the Mediteraians (we've got the Meds as visitors very often in the past). Also I've noticed when in the sun my hair is not actually black but brown. Also I've seen a few 'blond/golden' like hairs inside my nostrils.
Soon I was much convinced that my ancestors must be some where not from Asia. (Maybe this is the reason I don't like the local food with spices). And maybe this is the reason why I'm so inclined to get 'blue eyed blond kids'. Maybe my genes are asking me to migrate (something that came to me while I was in my 4th grade - I thought that I don't like this place and live in the West - haha CRAZY)
its a very rare gene to have
September 26, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 45019
its a very rare gene to have two different eye colors
Weird Thing
September 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 44960
My friend has one green eye and one blue eye.
I wonder how that happen.
k
September 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 44952
this is weird
it is possible. probably
September 23, 2009 by Anonymous, 13 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 44951
it is possible. probably sometime way back when you great great great aunts/uncles/grandparents ect... they had the same color eyes and hair as you do. so you probably got it from whomever that person was
Are you so egotistical to NOT
September 20, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 23 hours ago
Comment: 44864
Are you so egotistical to NOT believe that even if there is a God that possibly he created the human race and all life to live AND evolve on Earth? If there is an omnipotent being who created all life, that he would be so dull as to create every being exactly as they are, never changing, never growing, never moving forward...?
actually, there are only two
September 20, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 44862
actually, there are only two genes that usually play a role.
chromosome 15 and chromosome 19
Really?
September 14, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 44739
You spell poorly, and should not assume that just because "you" thought it, it is true. Besides this pointer however you should keep in mind that many people, religious or no, have different views and different theories on creationism. Remember, at one point in time many people thought it was impossible that the world was anything but flat. ANYTHING is possible. Do you think that it is impossible that a highly evolved, sentient entity could create life? Is it so far-fetched that a sentient entity could have evolved to the point of omnipresence and omnipotence? Are you so egotistical to believe that we are the first glimmer of sentient life in the unknown universe? We, as the feeble species that we are, are already on the verge of creating life, in fact, some would say we have already reached that point with cloning. I suggest a little more meditation on this topic before you bash your head against the wall and dislodge your remaining brain cells. Have a nice one.
God is not rteal
September 14, 2009 by Anonymous, 14 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 44720
hahaha genetics disprove god hahaha
Seriously evolution, genetic linkage... all things religion has no place for!
The religious believe the world is barely 10,000 yearsa old anyways!
dna
September 6, 2009 by Anonymous, 16 weeks 19 hours ago
Comment: 44621
fact the father is not there biological father!
Eye color is not inherited in
September 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 16 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 44503
Eye color is not inherited in a Mendelian fashion.
To the last comment: It is
August 28, 2009 by Anonymous, 17 weeks 2 days ago
Comment: 44421
To the last comment: It is possible for two blue eyed parents to have brown or green eyes. Eye color genetics is complex and involves SEVERAL genes!!!
Blue-eyed parents
August 25, 2009 by Anonymous, 17 weeks 5 days ago
Comment: 44348
Every person carries two genes for eye color. There are three possible combinations. BB, Bb, bb. Each child gets one eye color gene from each of it's parents. The gene for blue eyes is recessive (b), meaning that the gene for brown eyes is dominant (B). You can see that the first of the two combinations (BB, Bb) would result in a brown-eyed child). Two parents with brown eyes can have a blue-eyed child IF they both carry the recessive blue-eyed gene. (Bb + Bb = either BB, Bb or bb)
It's the same with green eyes. Hazel eye color is dominant over blue eyes.
Now if you have TWO parents with recessive genes (bb), meaning each parent has blue eyes, they CANNOT be carrying the gene (B) for brown eyes! Thus, no offspring can have blue eyes! (bb + bb = bb)
Perhaps there is something your mother never knew....
green?
August 14, 2009 by Anonymous, 19 weeks 2 days ago
Comment: 44085
Beautiful, but they look more blue to me. Perhaps it's the photo?
Geez
July 27, 2009 by Anonymous, 22 weeks 2 hours ago
Comment: 38371
Look. Genetics is complex. Every one one my mothers side excluding one of my aunts and my mom has blue eyes, My Aunt has brown eyes my mother green with brown splottches known as hyperchromia. My Mother married a blue eyed man. she had two children One having blue eyes the other me having the hyperchromia trait and developing blue eyes with green around the iris. There was also a mixed race couple who had identical twins but they were not so identical when they recieved the pigments one twin had african-american colored skin the other looked caucasian. Very complex.
Random read hair
July 18, 2009 by Anonymous, 23 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 38099
My freind has red hair even though no one else in her family does, or knows of any one else who does in the line. It's weird. And my dad has this weird thing, he was born with pure blonde hair, and as he grew it turned black, and I'm not saying light brown, I mean jet black. It's weird. He had a son with blonde hair who is now full grown and it's only like a light brown, mostly blonde still.
It is not true that two
July 11, 2009 by Anonymous, 24 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 37885
It is not true that two parents with blue eyes will always have blue eyed children. My mother's parents both have blue eyes and my mother has brown eyes. All of her eight siblings have blue eyes (although one has a brown patch in one of his eyes.) The genes that determine eye color are much more complex than blue/brown, recessive/dominant. Since this is what is taught in high school level biology classes, it is what most people believe, but it is not accurate. In actuality, multiple genes combine to determine eye color, which is how we have so many shades of the major eye colors.
um you can have two parents
July 11, 2009 by Anonymous, 24 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 37875
um you can have two parents with blue eyes and still have a green eyed child. sometimes things can skip generations before showing up again. you can also two people with brown eyes that have a child with blue eyes. as long as both parents carry the gene for blue eyes then their child can have blue eyes. i have brown eyes but my mother has blue,if i was to get with another brown eyed person or green eyed person with that carried the blue eyed gene than my child can have blue eyes. i may have brown eyes but i am related to that blue eyed person cuz my mother and grandmother are both blue eyed!
Paternity test?
July 9, 2009 by Anonymous, 24 weeks 3 days ago
Comment: 37828
If both of your parents have blue eyes, and you have green, I'd get a paternity test and ask your Mom who else she was sleeping with around the time you were conceived.
Oh my god! Same here!
July 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 25 weeks 3 days ago
Comment: 37673
Oh my god! Same here!
Yeah
July 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 25 weeks 3 days ago
Comment: 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, 25 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 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, 26 weeks 6 hours ago
Comment: 37603
Keryy Beth and Amie think the site is Fab !! x
is this the answer?
June 19, 2009 by Anonymous, 27 weeks 2 days ago
Comment: 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, 27 weeks 2 days ago
Comment: 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, 28 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 37192
VA home loans
I loved the story.
Vitiligo Treatment
June 9, 2009 by Anonymous, 28 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 37135
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My sister
June 6, 2009 by Anonymous, 29 weeks 2 days ago
Comment: 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, 29 weeks 4 days ago
Comment: 37016
oh-oh dum da dum dum
Vitiligo Treatment
June 2, 2009 by Anonymous, 29 weeks 6 days ago
Comment: 36974
Have had enough with Vitiligo? Don’t Give up your hope too soon. Our medically proven Vitiligo Treatment will make you live your life all over again. It’s easy, It’s safe, It’s quick and It’s guaranteed... Have the best Vitiligo Cure at Curevitiligo
Yes.....
May 30, 2009 by Anonymous, 30 weeks 1 day ago
Comment: 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, 30 weeks 3 days ago
Comment: 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?
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