What Defines Your Eye Colour?

Eye color is a physical trait that is genetically determined. A favorite pastime for many expectant parents is documenting the color of grandparents and extended family members to attempt to predict the color of their babies. Any discussion of the inheritance of the color requires a review of genetics. In basic terms, the color is determined by the amount of a pigment called melanin that is in the iris. Brown have lots of pigment, blue eyes very little.

The amount of pigment is determined by a number of genes controlling pigment production. Generally speaking, brown is dominant, meaning that if one parent has brown eyes and the other has blue, the baby will most likely have brown. But the situation is really much more complicated than that.

Why blue

They are said to be the most attractive part of a person. Personality of a person is also looked upon by the eye color or the colour they inherit. It have always been a mystery to most of us. Basically how a baby is born with a different color to their parents. It is the melanin, a brown pigment molecule that colors the skin, hair and eyes also. It is deposited in the irises. The iris is the colored part that controls the amount of light that is allowed to enter. Some animals are born with blue eyes, too, like that of kittens.

Melanin generally is a protein just like other proteins, the amount that is coded in our genes. An iris contains a large amount of melanin which appear black or brown. Less melanin produces green, gray, or light brown. If they contain very small amounts of melanin they will appear blue or light gray.

People with albinism have no melanin in their irises and theirs may appear pink because the blood vessels in the back reflect light.

Melanin production generally increases during the first year of baby’s life, leading to a deepening of color. The color is often stable by about 6 months of age. However several factors can affect the color, including use of certain medications and environmental factors.

Some people experience changes in color over the course of their lives. People can have eyes of two colors. Even the genetics of color inheritance isn't as cut-and-dried as was once thought, as blue-eyed parents have been known (rarely) to have a brown-eyed child!

Also read our article about Causes of Eye Bags