All of us with blue eyes might be closer than you think. A team of scientists has tracked down a genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. The mutation occurred between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago. Before then, there were no blue eyes.
"From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to thesame ancestor," Eiberg said. “They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.” Eiberg and his colleagues detailed their study in the Jan. 3 online edition of the journal Human Genetics.
**Gene for flaming tresses is dyeing out, experts say **
BY CHRISTINA BOYLE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Sunday, August 19th 2007, 4:00 AM
Hollywood beauties Nicole Kidman, Marcia Cross and Julianne Moore are a dying breed.
The red hair gene possessed by stars such as Lindsay Lohan and Debra Messing is heading toward extinction, according to National Geographic magazine.
Experts are warning the red-hair gene could be completely wiped out by 2100.
Only 2% of the people in the world are estimated to have natural red hair like Britain’s Prince Harry and “CSI: Miami” star David Caruso.
Global intermingling is making it less and less likely that two fiery redheads will end up calling each other Mr. and Mrs. Right — which is the most reliable way of producing a redheaded child, according to National Geographic’s latest issue.
The magazine says the gene was first created by a mutation in northern Europe a few thousand years ago and at first had the beneficial effect of increasing the body’s ability to make vitamin D from sunlight.
But today’s red gene carriers are more prone to skin cancer and have a higher sensitivity to heat- and cold-related pain.
Scotland has one of the highest numbers of redheads in the world, with 40% of its residents carrying the gene, and 13% of the population sporting red locks.
But even though the genuine redhead may one day become a thing of the past, the appeal of having vibrantly colored hair shows no signs of diminishing.
About $123 million was spent on red hair dye in the U.S. last year, according to National Geographic.
The conclusion is flawed. If blue eys are in fact a “mutation” it is possible that the same mustation could have occured in multiple ansestors.
What about animals that have blue eyes? I know some of you are going to joking suggest that somehow that there was a intermixing of species but even 10,000 that simply would not have produced an offspring. So obviously the blue eye mutation has occured independantly in other species as well. Therefore it is quite possible that multiple independant mutations occured in humans.
Mine are Hazel Green - means kinda mostly green with mutant blue, red from lack of sleep, and some brown (which varies depending if I’m running for office), however I like this song:
