Mystery of Blue Eyes in My Family

[Adam]

A question for Monique and anyone else who knows this material...

Everyone born into my family has blue or grey eyes. Even when my mother's sister married a brown-eyed man, their children had blue eyes. Every single person born into our family has eyes of some shade of blue.

Now, I don't know anything about how dominant and recessive genes work, but aren't the brown eyes supposed to pop up more often?

 

[iansmith]

It will depend on the gene distribution. As you said there is more blue in family. So the chance of having two blue ressives is more likely then having a brown dominant with a blue recessive. The brown-eye person that married you mother sister probably carries a blue eye gene. Also eye colour is not one gene one colour as in peas, it is 2 gene, 1 colour.

In our family we got the oppposite. My cousin is half french-canadian and armenian, he has dark eye and hair, and his girlfriend is Canadian with ligth dark eye and hair. They got a girl that has blue eyes and blond hair.

 

[Njorl]

Originally posted by iansmith
Also eye colour is one gene one colour as in peas, it is 2 gene, 1 colour.

I think you left out a "not" between "is" and "one". From the context, an error of typography, not knowledge.

BTW, I have green eyes.

Njorl

 

[Monique]

Actually, blue eyes are caused by the decreased functioning of a tyrosine transporter, right? Less tyrosine transportion causes less pigmentation production, and blue eyes. That is why brown eyes is dominant, one fully functional gene is able to transport enough tyrosine.

The enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (the deficiency causes PKU) might also be involved in colouration: affected people frequently have a light complexion, blond hair and blue eyes.

 

[Eluta_00]

Monique,
That means I can also use the ways you explain about blue eyes, complexion etc for different races, different people in Europe,Asia, America?

Thanks a lot,

Regards,

Eluta

By the way, if someone wants to be as white as a 'real' blond guy, he/she can do something to change his 'properties' ? Is that possible ?
My questions would sound like a dumb but I am so sorry because I am not in biology, I don't know about these much...

Thanks again

 

[Monique]

Originally posted by Eluta_00
Monique,
That means I can also use the ways you explain about blue eyes, complexion etc for different races, different people in Europe,Asia, America?

Well, there are a number of genes that play a role. I guess the impact of those genes are different in those populations. But I am not sure if we really know all the genes that play a role in colorations?

By the way, if someone wants to be as white as a 'real' blond guy, he/she can do something to change his 'properties' ? Is that possible ? [/B]

Good question, I don't think that is really possible at the moment. There ARE things that can do that at the moment, but those are toxic and thus have side effects.

I know of some clinically oriented research that is going on right now, where researchers are trying to develop topical cremes which can modulate the skin tone. Think for instance about people who have facial discolourations, which happens during pregnancy.

 

[Eluta_00]

Thanks a lot, :)

Regards,
Eluta