Is It Good to Have Blue Eyes?

A big advantage to blue eyes is that research shows they might be linked to a lower risk of developing cataracts. Cataracts are clouding of the eye’s lens. According to some studies, blue eyes may have evolved because these individuals were able to cope better with seasonal affective disorders.

Blue-eyed? Thank a genetic switch that turns off your body’s ability to make brown pigment in your peepers. Researchers have finally located the mutation that causes blue eyes, and the findings suggest that all blue-eyed humans share a single common ancestor born 6000 to 10,000 years ago.

Only green eyes seemed to suffer at all, with only 11% of matches reached. Blue and brown, the most popular for men, trended towards the bottom middle of the list, with brown eyes – the most common in the world – receiving only 13% of all matches.

The allele genes come in the form of brown, blue, or green, with brown being dominant, followed by green, and blue being the least dominant or what is called recessive. Given this information, you can determine what eye colors are dominant in the parents.

Your child’s newborn eye color may be blue, but that doesn’t mean it’ll necessarily stay that way. “Babies’ eyes tend to change color sometime between 6 and 12 months, but it can take as long as three years until you see the true color of what their eyes are going to be,” says Barbara Cohlan, MD, a neonatologist at St.

Since blue eyes are genetically recessive, only 8 percent of the world’s population has blue eyes. While blue eyes are significantly less common than brown eyes worldwide, they are frequently found from nationalities located near the Baltic Sea in northern Europe.

There’s always a chance that your baby’s blue eyes will be permanent, but it’s more likely they’ll become hazel, green or brown before they even take their first steps. Eye color change will often taper off around six months, but some babies’ eyes keep changing hues for a year or even up to three.

In 2006, researchers discovered a 7,000 year old body from the Stone Age in the La Brana cave system in Leon in Northern Spain (Image 4). Genetic testing determined that this man had blue eyes. It was not in itself unusual, but what is remarkable is that he is the earliest known person with blue eyes.

People consider blue eyes attractive, but in reality, blue is rated as attractive as other iridal colors. Bright scleral color and large pupils positively affect attractiveness because both features are significantly correlated with youthfulness.

Eye color can change through the years as amount of pigment in the eyes differs based on genetics. While scientists are still on the hunt to understand why eyes change color, some eyecare professionals believe that those changes are not physical, but rather perceptual.

Blue eyes are rare, making up just 8-10% of the world’s population. Blue eyes are caused by a relative lack of melanin in the iris. Just like your skin and hair, how much melanin you have determines your eye color. All eyes are technically brown because melanin itself is brown.

Featured Photo by Yan Berthemy on Unsplash