The coloring of the iris that environs the minor black hole in the middle of the eye and pupil controls the amount of light entering the eye, controlling an individual’s eye color. The color of the iris differs from extremely pale blue to natural shady brown. The most common eye color classifications are green/hazel, blue, gray, and brown. Brown is the most common eye color on the planet. People with lighter eye hues, such as green and blue, are virtually wholly of European descent. In this paper, I will discuss inherited eye color traits.
My father is blue-eyed, which he inherited from my grandfather. Also, my mother has blue eyes, and I also have blue eyes. My grandmothers from both sides have blonde hair and blue eyes, and my Grandfather from my mother’s side has blonde curly hair and blue eyes. Eye color was once assumed to be a simple Mendelian feature, denoting that a single gene controlled it, with brown being central and blue receding. Eye color is nowadays known to be a polygenic characteristic, which is regulated by numerous genes (Bressan & Damian, 2018). OCA2 and HERC2 stand out among the genes that influence eye color. Both are found on chromosome 15 of the human genome. The OCA2 gene generates a tyrosine transporter in the cell membrane. A precursor of melanin HERC2 controls the expression of the OCA2 genetic factor, and the blue eye phenotype is frequently caused by a variation in the HERC2 gene in the European population. A person with two duplicates of the C allele at HERC2 rs1293832 is expected to take blue eyes, whereas a person with homozygous TT is likely to have brown eyes. This explains why I can trace inherited blue eyes from my family.
In conclusion, every gene in a person has two distinct forms, one from the mother and one from the father, which this person inherits. The dominant trait is expressed when the two alleles of a single gene are different (heterozygous). The hidden characteristic is recessive, and when a recessive characteristic, such as blue eyes, is present, it usually only manifests when both alleles are present.
Reference
Bressan, P., & Damian, V. (2018). Fathers’ eye color sways daughters’ choice of both long-and short-term partners. Scientific reports, 8(1), Web.