Blue Eye People Share Common Ancestor
From WTOPnews.com
February 1, 2008
UNDATED - 11:04am
Everyone on Earth with blue eyes may have a single common ancestor.
According to LiveScience, scientists believe the phenomenon of blue eyes was the result of a mutation that occurred six-thousand to ten-thousand years ago.
The mutation is in a gene that affects another gene responsible for the production of melanin. Researchers who studied blue-eyed people in several countries found they all had the same mutated gene.
The genetic switch somehow spread throughout Europe and now other parts of the world. According to researchers 20 to 40 percent of Europeans now have blue eyes.
The trait seems to have a positive evolutionary function as well -- people with blue eyes have more children.
February 1, 2008
UNDATED - 11:04am
Everyone on Earth with blue eyes may have a single common ancestor.
According to LiveScience, scientists believe the phenomenon of blue eyes was the result of a mutation that occurred six-thousand to ten-thousand years ago.
The mutation is in a gene that affects another gene responsible for the production of melanin. Researchers who studied blue-eyed people in several countries found they all had the same mutated gene.
The genetic switch somehow spread throughout Europe and now other parts of the world. According to researchers 20 to 40 percent of Europeans now have blue eyes.
The trait seems to have a positive evolutionary function as well -- people with blue eyes have more children.