a question of genetics?

Question

am the oldest of 6 daughters my family I would like to know if
posible how
hair ane eye color are inhereited in my family. I'd really like to know
how
we have so many eye colors. my family hair and eye color is as
follows:

Dad: Brown Hair , Brown to hazel eyes
Mom: Carrot red hair, Blue eyes
Me: Dark brown hair, Green eyes
Sister A: Deep Red hair, Green eyes
Sister B: Platinum blonde, Bright Blue eyes
Sister C: Dark brown hair, Dark Brown eyes
Sister D: Blonde hair, Dark blue eyes
SisterE: Brown hair, Gray eyes

no , it's not homework. I actually graduated in June. Horrible in science though which is why I can't answer this myself. I ask because people always seem amazed at the hair & eye colors when they meet my family.
for those who asked
grandma from dad has dark brown hair & light brown eyes.
grandpa from dad has light brown hair & blue green eyes
grandma from mom has red hair & light brown eyes
grandpa from mom had brown hair & brown eyes.

Answer 1

Okay, this gets pretty complicated, and to be honest, no one's entirely sure how eye and hair color are inherited. Most researchers agree that these traits are polygenic, however -- that is, you inherit them via multiple genes. It's how there can be so many different SHADES of any one particular hair color, for example: ash blonde, platinum blonde, strawberry blonde, etc.

We'll tackle hair color first. For simplicity, we'll say that hair color is the result of two pigments, eumelanin and phomelanin. We'll go with just the eumelanin for the moment, and if I remember correctly, there are four genes that are believed to be involved in its production. You inherit four genes from your mother and four from your father. Now, eumelanin is responsible for black hair -- if you have a lot, your hair is black, a little and your hair is blonde. So each of these genes is either on or off, and the number of genes that are on determines how dark your hair will be. Let's say that the gene for eumelanin expression is E, and the dormant version of the gene is e. Thus, since I'm Chinese, the genes I'd pass on to the kids would be EEEE (four different ones, all telling the cells around the follicles to produce eumelanin round the clock) and my wife, who is Norwegian/Finnish, would pass on eeee (four different genes all telling the follicles to do nothing with respect to eumelanin). The combination of the eight genes would end up duking it out, and the kids would most likely have something in the middle. It wouldn't be gray, necessarily, because now phomelanin comes into play, and adds some tint to the mixture; that's coded by other genes that also combine from mom and dad. As it turns out, red hair comes from a combination of recessive genes, so in very, very basic terms, since mom has red hair, she has only the traits for the recessive version of these genes, and therefore the kids have about a 25% chance of getting red hair, assuming your dad has some of the genes for red hair that just don't get expressed because he has dominant version of the hair color genes that lean him toward brown hair.

*pant*gasp* Okay, it gets even more complicated when talking about eye color. Generally speaking, brown eyes are dominant over green eyes, and both are dominant over blue eyes. The color is mostly determined by the amount of the pigment melanin in the eye -- the more you get have, the more the color shifts from blue to dark brown (there are two types of melanin, a yellow type and black one, and it's the combination that determines the final color) Again, there are multiple genes involved, but since your mother has blue eyes, she has the most recessive version of the genes (for little or no melanin), while your father, with brown eyes, has genes coding for more of both. Therefore, the kids in the family have a combination of genes, some coding for no melanin, some coding for a lot. Your father apparently also carries some of the recessive forms of the genes, making it possible for some of your siblings to have blue eyes.

Clear as mud, now?

Answer 2

Actually, both of these traits are polygenic which means that you have multiple genes that affect eye color and multiple genes that affect hair color. That means there are so many different ways of mixing different genes, you can end up with a lot of different colors for each. It's the same with skin color. You have certain ones that "should" be more prevalent, but there are so many different combinations. Sorry there's not definite answer. Now if you go further back, you can figure it out a little bit better, but it would take going pretty far back to be accurate.


I saw some other answers and you have to realize that there are not only dominant and recessive genes involved. Some of them are codominant and some exhibit incomplete dominance as well as some dominant and recessive. The mistake a lot of teachers make is that they use eye and hair color for basic genetic problems that show only two versions of the gene. Even though this makes it pretty cut and dry and is easy to understand, it's not correct in most human genes. (There are a few that work this way...widows peak, PTC taster, hairy knuckles, Mortons toe, etc.)

Answer 3

There are dominant and recessive genes. your greens eyes may have been hiding in your family for generations, to show up in you - what color eyes do each of your grandparents have? same goes for hair color.

Answer 4

It appears the male gene is recessive.
You may need to fo back further than your mom and dad.

Answer 5

Are you just trying to get help with your biology homework? Nobody answer this question!