30 Aug WHY YOUR EYES ARE A CERTAIN COLOUR
Ever wonder why you don’t have blue eyes or hazel eyes? It is not as complicated as you may think. You parent’s play a major role in determine what kind colour of eyes you have.
There are two main factors that help determine your eye color: the amount and pattern of dark brown pigment (called melanin) in the part of your eye called the iris and the way in which the iris scatters light that passes through the eye.
The most important factor is pigment, which is determined by your genes.
WHY ARE YOUR GENES IMPORTANT?
Your genes determine your eye color by dictating how much (and where) melanin is produced in your iris. The more melanin produced, the darker the eye color will be. Because melanin production does not begin at birth, babies’ eyes appear blue. True eye colour will be determined over time. It’s usually not until age three that a child’s true permanent eye colour reveals itself.
People with common brown eyes have a large amount of melanin in their iris, while people with blue eyes have much less of this pigment. The rarest eye colour is green. Approximately 2% of the world’s population have green coloured eyes.
Have you ever noticed how some people’s eyes seem to change color depending upon the lighting?
That occurs because the iris has two layers. Sometimes there is pigment in both layers. In people with blue or green eyes, however, the front layer will have very little or no melanin. Depending upon the amount and diffraction of light, their eyes may appear to change colors.
In more rare instances, some people may have two different colour eyes. These results from a condition called heterochromia. It’s very rare, but usually harmless. It occurs due to differences in the early stages of iris development.
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