Why don't I have a dominant parent? Could I be adopted?

Question

I have blue eyes. My mother has green and my father has brown. My brother also has brown. I have been wondering why I don't have a dominant parent and he doesn't.

Answer 1

It's genetics that determine your eye color.

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. Two of the gene pairs occur on chromosome pair 15 and one occurs on chromosome pair 19. The bey 2 gene, on chromosome 15, has a brown and a blue allele. A second gene, located on chromosome 19 (the gey gene) has a blue and a green allele. A third gene, bey 1, located on chromosome 15, is a central brown eye color gene.

Geneticists have designed a model using the bey 2 and gey gene pairs that explains the inheritance of blue, green and brown eyes. In this model the bey 2 gene has a brown and a blue allele. The brown allele is always dominant over the blue allele so even if a person is heterozygous (one brown and one blue allele) for the bey 2 gene on chromosome 15 the brown allele will be expressed. The gey gene also has two alleles, one green and one blue. The green allele is dominant to the blue allele on either chromosome but is recessive to the brown allele on chromosome 15. This means that there is a dominance order among the two gene pairs. If a person has a brown allele on chromosome 15 and all other alleles are blue or green the person will have brown eyes. If there is a green allele on chromosome 19 and the rest of the alleles are blue, eye color will be green. Blue eyes will occur only if all four alleles are for blue 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. It cannot explain how two blue-eyed parents can produce a brown-eyed child or how eye color can change over time. 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.

So no, you are not necessarily adopted just because you have blue eyes and neither of your parents do.

Answer 2

I am the youngest of three, and we are all adopted. All three of us are from different families as well. I'm in my 30's and people still say that they see the family resemblance in us. lol. We always loved that! However, to answer your question, you probably look like some other relative of yours. Just because you don't look just like your mother or father does not mean you're adopted. Some people have parents, both with brown hair, and they come along and have blond. Why? Because they are a combination of all the genes set forth by both parent's background. So relax, enjoy life! If it bothers you so much, ask your parents who in the family you most resemble. Chances are, they will both come up with a few who you look like.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

well to help u out some i have green eyes like a cat. my husband has grey eyes. and both our children have sky blue eyes.. my children and my 2 neices and 2 nephews all 6 kids have sky blue eyes and i know they have parents with brown eyes. but my mom had sky blue eyes so we are all thank-ful that our kids have her eyes since shes not with us any more. eye color comes from ur genes doesnt have to be ur parents. could be ur grandparents or great grandparents. one day u will come across a old pic of someone in ur family and say dang theres my eyes...lol

Answer 5

Blue eyes are caused by a recessive allele that could be carried by both your parents but is hidden. If you happen to receive both recessive alleles from your parents then you will have blue eyes. Basically they had a one in four chance of having a child with blue eyes and you are it!!

Answer 6

Just because you don't look strongly like either of your parents does not mean you're adopted. Think about your extended relatives. Do you look like any of them? Grandmothers, aunts?
My best friend does not look like either of her parents at all, but her brother does. She just looks more like her grandmother. Sometimes physical traits will skip a generation. But, if you have any reason to believe you're adopted then I guess that could be a possibility as well.

Answer 7

First of all, this isn't a CHEMISTRY question.

Secondly, genetics is very very very complicated. It's not the simple one in four, dominant gene theory's they used to (or still) teach in elementary school. If what they taught was true, we'd all have all dominant genes by now.

Do some research on the subject.

Answer 8

Same thing with my family. I'm the only one with brown hair around here. But my great great grandma was spanish.. so maybe someone in your family had blue eyes..Don't worry about it.

Answer 9

Ask your parents. I'm the only redhead in our family, but it apparently misses a generation, Could this have happened with your eye colour?

Answer 10

the way these things work are really a mystery. but you shouldnt only look at mom, and dad, but at youre grandparents, and the rest of your extended family as well. i went through the same thoughts when i was a teenager. am i adopted? no. and i am a spitting immage of my mother, yet i still felt the way you feel. dont worry, i thing what you are feeling is very normal. Good Luck, hon.