What determines the color of eyes we're born with?

Question

I've never fully understood it. For example, my mother has blue-grey eyes, my father has brown and I have greenish-blue. In addition to that my husband has brown eyes and my son has blue eyes. Weird, no?

Okay, I know it's a combo of genes. But if brown eyes are dominant, shouldn't I have ended up with them? I mean, even on my mom's side of the family, most of them have brown eyes. I guess what I am asking is, is there a range of colors between both parents eyes that their offspring's eye could be? Does that make sense?

Answer 1

Your dad carried one recessive gene for green eyes, which his gene for brown eyes was dominant, so he shows that he has brown eyes. you got one recessive gene from your mother, and the recessive gene from your dad, making you show for recessive, making you have green-blue eyes. the same way worked for your son

Answer 2

At one time scientists thought that a single gene pair, in a dominant/recessive inheritance pattern, controlled human eye color. The allele for brown eyes was considered dominant over the allele for blue eyes. The genetic basis for eye color is actually far more complex. At the present, three gene pairs controlling human eye color are known.

This model can partially explain how two blue-eyed parents can give birth to a brown-eyed child. Caucasian babies are often born with blue eyes which turn brown as they get older. However this may not always occur because of genetic damage or environmental factors. If such a person has a child with another blue-eyed person then that child may inherit the gene for brown eyes.

This model explains the inheritance of blue, brown and green eyes but cannot account for gray, hazel or multiple shades of brown, blue, green and gray eyes. This suggests that there are other genes, yet to be discovered, that determine eye color or that modify the expression of the known eye color genes.

Eye color typically stabilizes by 6 years of age

Answer 3

Brown eyes have a Dominant Gene. You get one gene from each parent. If any ONE of your genes are brown, you will have brown eyes. BUT, if both of your parents contributed a NON-Dominant blue/green gene, then you will end up with the non-brown eyes.

Now, your husband has brown eyes and he has at least one Brown gene. Because your son has eyes other than Brown, he must have a recessive (non-dominant) gene for blue/green, WHICH is why your son has blue/green eyes. Both you and your husband contributed recessive genes for blue/green eyes to your son. Brown is dominant. Every other color is recessive, (or non-dominant). In order for the recessive gene to show, both MUST be the recessive trait.

In theory, if your son marries a blue eyed girl, their kids should all have blue eyes-since both of them would only have recessive genes to pass on.

Genetics has such a wide path in the make-up of the individuals that you will be hard pressed to get the answers you are probably looking for here. Good Luck!

Answer 4

The genes decide the colour of the eyes. The stronger gene dominates the eyes colour. If both genes are equally strong, you will get a mixed colour. For example. My father has green eyes, but by mother has brown eyes. We are 8 children, and we have a variety of eye colours. One of us has greenish blue the other bluish green, the other brown the other black the othe light brown one has all green one has all blue and one has greenish brown. Who toblame, i don't know.

Answer 5

there is no single gene that makes up what eye color have, it is a combination of many, because if you like someone's brown eyes could be different from someone else's brown eyes, it is a combination of many genes that make up your eye color and the same for hair 2

Answer 6

no not really its all to do with genes and how they work out brown eyes are dominant so there is more brown eyes in the world whereas blue eyes are resessive and any other colour is a mutation

Answer 7

genes go back more than one generation. Look at all four grandparents' eyes, then yours and your husband's. Some eye-colors are dominant, others recessive, like hair color.

Answer 8

Well, it has to do with genetics and if you look back your great-great-great grandmother or grandfather could have greenish-blue eyes. And your son is probably going back to your mom's eye color.

Answer 9

My brother and me both have blue eyes when my mom has green eyes and my dad has brown. It's genetic. My grandma had blue eyes.

Answer 10

Dominant and recessive traits that are passed through your parents to you....and apparently i'm a mutation or a freak or something for having green eyes. cool.