Why are the eyes different. How eye color is inherited and why some people have different colored eyes 

In genetics, there are only three pigments that can form the color of the human iris - these are blue, yellow and brown. Depending on the quantity and proportions of each of the pigments, a certain eye color is formed. In most cases, both eyes are the same color and do not differ from each other visually, but it happens that the color of the iris can be different on the right and left sides. People with such an anomaly are the object of a whole variety of different folk signs and predictions, but usually such an unusual appearance does not carry any additional manifestations. We propose to get acquainted with this feature of the human body in more detail.

What is the name of the different eye colors in humans?

The color of the iris is determined by the type of distribution, directly by the presence and concentration of melanin, a pigment. As already mentioned, a specific tone is formed by mixing the three main pigments. A different eye color is considered a very unusual phenomenon, although 10 out of 1000 people have this feature to one degree or another. The phenomenon has the scientific name heterochromia, which literally means “another color”. This occurs not only in humans, but also in some animals, including cats, dogs and horses.

It is worth noting that the described concept implies not only a different color of the right and left eyes, but also a partial change in pigmentation in one of the eyes. Sometimes there are differences in color, but they are not contrasting, so in some cases you can only notice heterochromia by carefully looking at a person in good light. Statistics claim that the fair sex more often than men have such an anomaly.

It should be noted right away that the phenomenon itself does not pose any threat to human health and is in no way displayed on its visual abilities. People with heterochromia see the world in the same colors and in the same way as people with the same color of the irises in both eyes. Many popular actors also have, which not only does not interfere with them, but emphasizes their uniqueness and even increases recognition.

Types of disagreement

Heterochromia occurs in various forms, depending on the degree of its severity and the causes of its occurrence. So, the following types of abnormal staining are distinguished:

1. complete heterochromia. In such a situation, each of the eyes has its own separate color and uniform coloration. The most common case is a combination of blue and brown;
2. partial or sector. This character of staining implies the presence of several shades on the same eye. So, on the iris there may be spots or entire sectors that differ from the main color of the eyes;
3. circular is the most rare. With her, the iris has several pronounced color rings.

Changes can be both congenital (that is, some people are born with such a unique color of the iris), and pathological, when changes are associated with disease or injury.

Causes of multi-colored eyes in humans

The simplest and safest source of abnormal iris staining is heredity. In this case, we can talk about a simple form that does not entail any systemic or local violations. It is transmitted as a cellular mutation that occurs immediately after fertilization of the egg. It is not at all necessary that the phenomenon will be passed down from generation to generation, it can become rare and unusual even within the same family. However, a congenital anomaly can also be a symptom of a hereditary disease, so it is not worth leaving the child without diagnosis in this case, especially if there are any additional symptoms.

However, an anomaly can occur not only from birth, it can be obtained during life under the influence of certain factors. So, a complicated form of heterochromia implies that it is an element of the symptom complex of the disease and is accompanied by other symptoms. Depending on the specific disease, this may be visual impairment, white spots in the field of view, degenerative changes in the iris.

Traumatic organ damage, ophthalmic diseases, inflammatory processes, tumor formations - all this can also cause heterochromia in humans. Undoubtedly, a change in the color of the iris is one of the most favorable outcomes of the described events, since many of them can not only lead to loss of vision, but also cause death. It is worth noting that changes can also be a consequence of the use of eye drops to reduce pressure inside the eye from glaucoma - they stimulate the synthesis of melanin and can cause a change in color.

What diseases can cause heterochromia of the eye membrane

"Disagreement" can be provoked by both congenital and acquired diseases. Possible pathologies include:

• Horner's syndrome is a consequence of damage to the nervous system of the sympathetic type. In addition to a change in the color of the iris (most often the "owners" of the symptom are child patients), there is a drooping of the eyelids, pupil constriction, a violation of its normal reaction to light exposure, eye sinking;
• Neurofibromatosis type 1 is a hereditary disease that significantly increases the risk of a person developing dangerous neoplasms. Typical symptoms are age spots on the skin, scoliosis, learning difficulties and the so-called Lisch nodules in the iris. In this case, what visually looks like partial heterochromia is actually pigmented nodular neoplasms of a benign type;
• pigment dispersion - a problem associated with loss of pigmentation on the posterior surface of the iris, which is also reflected on the anterior surface;
• Waardenburg syndrome - a hereditary disease that is accompanied by a displacement of the inner corner of the eye, hearing loss from birth, the presence of a gray strand above the forehead and various types of heterochromia;
  Hirschsprung disease;
• piebaldism - a person with such a diagnosis on the body (including in the eyes) has white spots from birth, completely devoid of pigment;
• iron deposits in the tissues of the eye - siderosis;
• a tumor that can also be localized in the brain;
• melanoma can also in some cases provoke a change in the color of the iris;
• Fuchs iridocyclitis. The phenomenon explains the dependence of inflammation inside the eye and the subsequent atrophy of the iris, which leads to "discordance".

What to do and how to treat heterochromia?

Any situation before taking any action requires a thorough study and diagnosis of the causes. Heterochromia is no exception, because a wide variety of diseases can provoke it, and in some cases the phenomenon is only a feature of the development of the eye and does not require any intervention at all. When making a diagnosis, which is especially easy in the presence of additional specific symptoms, appropriate treatment is prescribed, which can involve a wide variety of methods: from medication to surgery. It is worth noting that genetic diseases are not treatable, and, for example, the inflammatory process will require the use of anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics. In people whose discord was caused by an acquired disease, it is quite possible, after treatment, to restore the natural color of the iris.

Video: why people have different eyes in color

What is the reason for different eyes in people? In what forms does this anomaly occur? Is it hazardous to health? The answers to all these questions can be found in this video, the author of which gives simple and understandable explanations. An entertaining format and brevity will help you focus on the essentials.

Photos of people with different eye colors

Have you ever seen how women and men look with different eye colors? If so, then most likely it was remembered, because such a phenomenon does not occur often and looks very unusual, automatically attracting the eye. Thanks to the photo, you can see how interesting this anomaly is and in what an amazing variety of forms it can manifest itself.

A person's eyes are the mirror of his soul. The color of the eyes can determine the character and person. However, there are people whose eye color is different. Different eyes - a phenomenon noted in 1% of the world's population. This phenomenon in medicine is called heterochromia. It manifests itself in the fact that one eye partially or completely differs from the other in color. This phenomenon is caused by a lower content in it, compared with the other eye, of melanin pigment. It is melanin that colors a person. If a person has different eyes, the content of melanin pigment in the iris of the lighter one is significantly reduced. As a result, it becomes lighter than the other.

Why is there such a phenomenon as different eyes? What is the reason why a person's eyes become different?

If a person has different eyes, this feature is often innate. However, heterochromia can occur in a person during life. In this case, you should consult a doctor, because this may be the result of various diseases. Firstly, the reason that a person has different eyes is a lack or excess of melanin pigment. This may indicate the presence of the following diseases: glaucoma, inflammation of the iris caused by rheumatism, influenza or tuberculosis, as well as the development of a benign tumor in the human body. In addition, different eyes can also appear as a person's reaction to drugs and medicines.

Another cause of heterochromia is the untimely removal of an iron or copper fragment in case of an eye injury. In this case, the iris can change its color.

It may turn blue-green or rusty-brown. These are the main reasons that different irises can recover if heterochromia is acquired. For example, if you remove a foreign body in case of eye injuries or cure inflammatory processes.

Heterochromia has two varieties. It can be complete or partial. Partial heterochromia is manifested in the fact that the human eye is immediately painted in two colors, that is, one part of the iris will have one shade, and the other will be painted in a completely different color. A complete person is two eyes of different colors that differ from each other.

Many people think that heterochromia - different eyes in a person - can affect his health or perception of the world around him. However, this is a misconception, because, fortunately, in most cases, people with such a phenomenon as different eyes do not feel any discomfort and do not experience health problems. However, there are exceptions when people with a light colored iris can develop a chronic inflammatory process. Such a process can adversely affect a person's vision. Therefore, people even with congenital rather than acquired heterochromia need to periodically visit an ophthalmologist's office. treated in the same way as normal. Women are more susceptible to such a phenomenon as heterochromia than men.

People have different color eyes increasingly common, irrespective of gender and age. The cause of such an anomaly can be both trauma and a congenital feature.

Since ancient times, people with different eyes were considered dangerous to everyone around. There were legends and beliefs about people with eyes of different colors. What signs and superstitions are known about people with an unusual eye color?

Previously, people with different eye colors were considered the children of the devil, since the devil was always depicted with one blue and one black eye. Women who gave birth to children with this feature were suspected of being connected with the devil.

It was also believed that people with different eye colors are capable of jinxing. They were called "eyed" and feared. If a house or livestock burned down in a village, then all the accusations always fell on the owner of unusual eyes.

Today, when humanity has long moved away from superstition, people with different eyes are considered lucky. Still would! For several centuries, they were exterminated, equating them with sorcerers and witches, so to preserve such heredity is a real success!

Why do people have different eyes

The phenomenon of multi-colored eyes in science is called heterochomy. Such a phenomenon cannot be called a disease or a magical sign. According to scientists, there is nothing mystical about people with different eye colors. It all depends on the excess or lack of melanin pigment in the iris, which is responsible for their color. Such a phenomenon does not affect the visual ability of a person in any way, and they have the same visual acuity as everyone else. Heterochomy can also occur during life due to eye injury.

What does different eye color mean?

People with different eye colors undoubtedly attract a lot of attention. It is easier for such people to stand out from the crowd, to find contact with people around them, or to impose a veil of secrecy on their own person. Many believe that multi-colored eyes help to achieve their goals in life. There is also an opinion that people with different eye colors have a very developed intuition and are able to see through others.

Heterochomy appears not only in humans. Often this phenomenon occurs in cats. Having a cat with different eye colors is considered a good omen. Such an animal brings happiness to the house.

If you, your acquaintances, friends or your child have different eyes, then there is nothing hazardous to health. This is the highlight that distinguishes a person from other people! Good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and

10.12.2014 09:13

It is not for nothing that the eyes are called the mirror of the soul. Astute people need only look into the eyes of their opponent to find out information ...

Eye color can tell a lot about a person. Including how good...

Eye heterochromia is a rare difference in the iris of the human eye, more precisely, in its color. This disturbance is evident already at the beginning of the child's development; at a later age, it can be caused by illness, injury. Briefly, heterochromia can be characterized as follows: this is the difference in the color of the iris compared to its usual state. Many people with this disorder are celebrities. The most famous star with iris disorder is David Bowie.

Heterochromia (from the Greek "heteros" - "other", "chroma" - "color") means the variegation of the iris usually (heterochromia iridis or heterochromia iridum), but also hair, skin. The disorder occurs due to an excess or lack of melanin. It can be congenital, caused by genetic mosaicism (lack of chromosome separation during mitosis), or be the result of disease, injury. It occurs in both humans and animals.

Iris heterochromia is a very rare disorder, occurring in about 2% of the population. It can be complete, a characteristic difference in the color of one eye from the other, or partial, when only part of the iris has a different color (it is in this one part of the eye that an insufficient or excess amount of pigment is contained). Partial heterochromia is less common than complete heterochromia.

Causes of heterochromia

Eye color is determined by the iris. After birth, children in most cases have blue or gray-blue eyes. This is due to the very low levels of melanin in newborns. Under the influence of sunlight, the color of the eyes changes. But the final color is determined by the concentration of melanin in the iris. Direct proportionality is applied here - the more melanin in the iris, the darker the eyes. But other factors also influence eye color, which is why every person in the world has a unique eye color.

In the northern countries, the population is predominantly blue-eyed, while in the southern coastal regions, where the sunlight is more intense, the inhabitants are predominantly brown-eyed. The natural conditions of the mid-latitudes do not imply a specific color, so our people have almost all colors, while none of them predominates.

Genetics of heterochromia

The genetic basis is determined by the amount and distribution of melanin. Gradually, with an increase in the number of studies and studies of genetics and cellular chemistry, it was found that melanin is influenced by genes for brown and blue on chromosome 15, for green and gray on chromosome 19.

Newer and more advanced genetic models are not yet perfect, as it has been found that there is at least one other gene that determines eye color. It is also the gene for the brown type on chromosome 15. In addition, scientists have found that a brownish-yellow pigment called lipochrome appears in green, blue, and brown irises.

People with genetically determined heterochromia mostly do not have other health problems or negative symptoms. But rarely this disorder is a manifestation of a congenital (present from birth) disease.

Some of these diseases include:

• Horner's syndrome. A rare disorder mediated by damage to the nerves that connect the brain and eyes. Usually only one side of the face is affected. The disease is characterized by convulsive eyelids, constant narrow pupils on the affected side.
• Waardenburg syndrome. A group of genetic disorders that cause changes in the color of the eyes, hair, skin. A rarer manifestation is hearing impairment or loss.
• piebaldism. This is a relatively harmless condition, which is characterized by a deficiency of pigment in the skin, hair, eyes. People with this disorder usually have lighter patches of hair, skin, and eyes than the rest of the body.
• Sturge-Weber Syndrome. A disorder in which brain, skin, and eye disorders are due to the abnormal development of certain blood vessels. A person with this syndrome has pink, reddish, light purple patches on their face.
• Parry-Romberg syndrome. In this disorder, the skin, soft tissues, muscles, and sometimes bones on one side of the face slowly weaken and atrophy over time. This is a very rare disease. The sick person suffers from frequent convulsions.
• Hirschsprung disease. A disorder that affects the large intestine. The condition predominantly occurs in newborns and infants, characterized by impaired emptying.
• tuberous sclerosis(Bourneville syndrome). A rare disease characterized by the formation of benign neoplasms in various organs of the body (most often affecting the skin, brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, eyes).
• Duane syndrome(Duane's retraction syndrome). The disorder is characterized by impaired ability to move one or both eyes inward and/or outward.

Sometimes the cause of the development of heterochromia is determined by the state of health. Many people have noticed that during illness, severe stress, their eyes become darker or lighter. This phenomenon is related to the distribution and density of melanin or lipofuscin in the iris. But the exact mechanism of this temporary disruption is not yet fully understood.

Another cause of heterochromia is the use of certain drugs. The mechanism of action of drugs on eye color changes is only partially explained, but drugs are believed to have an effect similar to the effect of the hormone prostaglandin secreted in the human body.

A certain effect of hormones on the pigmentation of the iris has been partially proven. This also explains the change in eye color in the adult population.

The next cause of heterochromia to be taken into account is a mole growing on the iris. It can cover a third, half, even the entire area of ​​​​the iris. Therefore, the initially blue eye can gradually “transform” into dark brown.

When a mole appears, it is advisable to carefully consider this condition. Ophthalmologists warn that it can be reborn in which requires the removal of part of the iris.

Types of heterochromia

Heterochromia is a disorder characterized by the presence of 2 or more different colors of the iris. There are several different variants of this violation.

First of all, it is classified by the difference in the color of the iris:

• hypochromic heterochromia - the "abnormal" iris is lighter than normal;
• hyperchromic heterochromia - the "abnormal" iris is darker than normal.

Partial (sector) heterochromia

Partial heterochromia is characterized by a partial change in the color of one eye. For example, a person may have half of the iris of one shade, and the other half of a different one. At the same time, the other eye is monochromatic. Also with this type there are spots of different sizes on the iris or a different shade in the center of the pupil.

This violation is quite rare, it occurs in 1 person out of 2-4 million. In children, the appearance of such a phenomenon is due to a lack of pigment in the body during the formation and final color of the iris, which is why it is only partially stained.

Complete heterochromia

With complete heterochromia, the color of the eyes (iris) differs completely. For example, a person has one iris blue, the other brown.
This combination of different shades looks very impressive, unusual, attractive. As a rule, no function of the visual organs is disturbed.

Central heterochromia

Central eye heterochromia is the most common occurrence and is characterized by the presence of several colored circles in the central part of the pupil. In most cases, a person does not even suspect that this violation refers to heterochromia. This feature is not dangerous and does not cause discomfort in relation to vision.

Metallic heterochromia

Metallic heterochromia is characterized by a change in the shade of the pupil due to mechanical damage by a foreign body (copper or iron). Depending on the type of metal, damage is divided into siderosis or chalicosis. Along with the manifestations of the inflammatory process in the eyeball, the color of the pupil changes. Most often it becomes dark brown, less often green or blue.

How to get heterochromia

Many people dream of changing their image by changing the color of their eyes, but how to purposefully get sick with heterochromia and give the eyes different shades? This can be done in several ways.

Safe Methods:

• clothing. This option is suitable for owners of a bright pupil. For example, gray turns blue when wearing blue-tinted clothing.
• Cosmetics. Everything is simple here. Use shadows of the color you want to give to the pupil.
• Color contact lenses. You can use one or both lenses.

Dangerous methods:

• The use of antiglaucoma drops. When using the product in accordance with the instructions, a change in the shade of the iris will occur after a few days. The phenomenon is reversible, but not completely safe. Drops lower, due to which a healthy person can provoke visual impairment.
• Laser application. The method has not been sufficiently tested by studies, therefore it cannot be considered safe.

There are also a number of diseases that contribute to the appearance of different-colored eyes (acquired heterochromia) at any age, including the following disorders:

• Neuroblastoma. A type of cancer in which a tumor begins to develop in the nerve cells of the sympathetic nervous system. The disease affects mainly infants and preschool children.
• Fuchs syndrome(heterochromic cyclitide syndrome). It is a disorder most commonly affecting adults and the elderly. The disease is characterized by blurred vision (fog before the eyes), pain in the eyes, photosensitivity. The disease is caused by damage to the cells of the cornea, the main function of which is to regulate the amount of fluid in the cornea.
• . This is a progressive disease, most often caused by an increase in intraocular pressure. This condition causes fluid to rise in the anterior part of the eye, followed by damage to the optic nerve.
• Central retinal occlusion. A vascular disease that causes blood and other fluids to leak into the retina.
• Melanoma of the eye. This is an oncological disease in which the tumor develops in the eye cells that produce melanin.
• Injury, eye injury.
• Ophthalmic operations.
• Some drugs used in therapy.
• Diabetes.

With a genetically determined disorder, there are no risk factors associated with heterochromia. In addition, it is not a disease, per se. But the violation caused by the disease requires attention - it can cause serious consequences.

Since a change in the color of the iris can cause diseases (including serious ones), it is advisable to consult a doctor if this disorder occurs.

Interesting fact: if one of the identical twins has heterochromia, it is also present in the other. What is the reason for this? Heterochromia occurs in 2% of the world's population, which is not very many. The main reason for this difference is the amount of melanin in the human body.

As mentioned above, most children, especially the white race, are born with a neutral eye color. When the eyes are exposed to sunlight, the melanocytes in the iris begin to produce melanin pigment, causing the eye color to gradually begin to change, approaching the color of the parents' eyes. The density of melanin in the 1st year of life is about 50% of the density of melanin in an adult. Pigmentation ends at the 3rd year of life.

Changes in eye color in adults are also interesting. As you know, it is the result of the reflection of light rays from the environment from the structure of the iris. People with bright irises often claim that their eye color varies depending on the color of their clothing. This is not surprising, because in this case the color of the iris is also due to a combination of colors reflected from clothes or even makeup, and not always in the way you might expect.

Treatment of heterochromia

Treatment of heterochromia begins with determining whether the deviation is harmless, only an aesthetic disorder, or is a symptom of a disease that requires treatment.

The diagnosis is made by an ophthalmologist; in the case of other diseases, a consultation of several specialists is required. During the diagnosis, the fundus of the eye, the condition of the optic nerve are examined, and possible visual impairments are excluded. Visual acuity is also assessed, etc.

The suspicion of the disease arises if heterochromia occurs over time, and is not present from birth.

In most cases, we are talking only about the aesthetic side of the issue. In this case, no treatment is required. If this disorder bothers the person, colored lenses can be used.

A completely different approach is required if the heterochromia of the eyes is due to an ophthalmic disease or a disease affecting other organs. In this case, we are talking about one of a number of symptoms. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the root cause of the violation. Depending on the pathology, the expediency of drug treatment or surgical intervention is considered.

One or more of the following therapeutic approaches are selected according to the primary disease:

• drug therapy;
• laser correction;
• steroid treatment;
• vitrectomy.

Medical therapy

The first step in chalicosis or siderosis is the removal of the foreign body that caused the disorder. For inflammation, corticosteroids, antifungal or antibacterial drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed. Sometimes local therapy using steroid drugs is used.

Laser correction

The procedure consists in removing excess pigment with a laser beam. It takes only a few minutes, but positive changes are possible only if the dark shade is eliminated. Full restoration of color occurs within 3-4 weeks after the procedure.

Surgical intervention

Some ophthalmic diseases (in particular, diseases) require an operational approach - conducting. The surgical method of treatment is to install an implant. But it has not been sufficiently studied, moreover, it is not allowed in all countries.

Heterochromia in cats and dogs

Heterochromia is common in some animals. It is most commonly found in cats and dogs such as the Japanese Bobtail, Turkish Angora, Siberian Husky, Australian Shepherd, etc. Unevenly colored eyes may also have a "regular" white European cat. Heterochromia also occurs in horses and cattle.

Unequal coloration in animals, as in humans, is most often caused by an uneven distribution of the pigment, melanin. This occurs, for example, due to a genetic disorder, the Waardenburg syndrome, and often does not pose any danger to the animal.

Heterochromia in celebrities

Heterochromia of the eyes makes a person easy to remember, eye-catching. Do you also think that David Bowie is unique among celebrities because of the color of his eyes? The multi-colored iris effect among famous faces is more common than it seems.

In addition to David Bowie, some other stars have heterochromia of the eyes. For example, Jane Seymour ("Doctor Quinn"), her younger colleague Kate Bosworth ("Big Sur"), Alice Eve ("Men in Black 3") can boast different shades of pupils. Josh Henderson from the Dallas sequel has one bright green eye and the other blue.

A less expressive difference in the color of the iris is the charming Mila Kunis from the Black Swan, the English handsome man and the modern Superman Henry Cavill, the protagonist of the film 24 Hours Kiefer Sutherland.

Other celebrities with heterochromia:

• Christopher Walken;
• Demmy Moor;
• Benedict Cumberbatch;
• Simon Pegg;
• Jonathan Rhys Meyers;
• Dominic Sherwood.

What is dangerous disease

Heterochromia, which is a genetic anomaly, in most cases is not associated with complications. A disorder that develops as a result of an injury, a disease, is not necessarily associated with negative consequences for a person, in contrast to the main cause of the disorder.

Heterochromia, in and of itself, is not dangerous and does not affect a person's vitality, although the condition responsible for changes in eye color (eg, neurofibromatosis) can have serious consequences.

Learn how eye color is inherited and why some people have one eye brown and the other green.

It is believed that all children are born gray-eyed, and only after a few months it becomes clear whose eye color the baby has inherited. But how surprised the parents are when it turns out that his eyes are different.

Natalya Beglyarova, a geneticist, expert at the Center for Molecular Diagnostics (CMD) of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, told Letidor what determines the color of a child's eyes, whether a blue-eyed baby can be born to brown-eyed parents and why the eyes are different colors.

What determines eye color

The color of the iris of the eye depends on the amount of pigment in it - melanin. The more pigment in the iris, the darker the eyes will be.

So, the owners of brown-black eyes have the maximum amount of pigment.

Why are the eyes different colors

Sometimes we come across people with different colored eyes. For example, one is brown and the other is blue or green. This phenomenon is called heterochromia.

It is not so rare, in every hundredth, and means that one eye has an excess or lack of pigment.

Heterochromia can be:

Complete when each eye has its own color;

Sector, when one eye has several areas with different pigmentation;

Central, in this case, the iris consists of several full-fledged colored rings.

How is heterochromia transmitted?

Heterochromia can be of two types: congenital or acquired.

The latter occurs as a result of various injuries (a fragment of metal objects), impaired innervation (supply of the organ with nerve cells - ed.) or inflammatory processes.

Congenital heterochromia can sometimes be a sign of some hereditary diseases. But most often this is an absolutely harmless feature caused by mutations in the genes that affect the distribution of melanin in the iris.

Mutations, which actually characterize all genetic features, can occur at different stages of development. It depends on this whether it becomes hereditary.

If a mutation occurs in an embryo, for example, at the fifth week of development, when the rudiments of the eyes were formed, then it only concerns the tissue of its eyes, which means it will not be transmitted to offspring.

But the mutation could have occurred at the moment of conception or at an earlier period of development, at the stage of zygote formation, when the egg was fertilized and division began. And if it arose in one of the genes that is responsible for the distribution of melanin, then all cells will already contain this mutation, it will be inherited. And when this child grows up, he may have children with multi-colored eyes.

It is impossible to determine at what stage the mutation occurred, and there is no clinical expediency in this.

How is eye color transmitted?

It is also impossible to predict what kind of eyes a child will have. Eye color is polygenic in nature, that is, it depends on a large number of genes, on variations in genetic sequences.

In recent studies, scientists have identified regions in six genes that can predict the color of the eyes of an unborn child with a high degree of certainty.

Most accurately predicted brown and blue colors. Gray, green are intermediate, it is already more difficult to predict them.

But here again the question of expediency arises. Theoretically, in order to find out the color of the eyes of a child, the expectant mother will have to make a puncture and select the amniotic fluid, which contains the genetic material of the fetus. The procedure is quite risky, it is prescribed only for medical reasons (for example, if a fetal chromosomal pathology is suspected).

It is basically impossible to plan the birth of, say, a blue-eyed baby.

One can only take into account the statistics, according to which in 75% of cases, brown-eyed parents will have a child with the same eye color. There is a small chance that the baby will have green eyes (18%) or even blue (7%).

If one of the parents has blue eyes, and the other has brown eyes, then the child, with varying degrees of probability, can get both father's and mother's colors. The same applies to the owners of blue and green eyes.

If one of the parents is brown-eyed and the other is green-eyed, then dark eyes often “win”.

But genetics never gives absolute certainty. And there remains one percent at which even brown-eyed parents can have a child with blue eyes.

Photo: Shutterstock.com Let's be friends on social media! Follow us on Facebook, VKontakte and Odnoklassniki!