Eye Colour

  Not such a simple trait as we used to think!

 What determins eye colour? How does eye colour develop? Can eye colour change?

Eye colour can vary from the most common colour, which is brown, to the least common colour, which is green. Green eye colour is also considered to be the most attractive amongs the whole range of colours.

Brown is the most common eye color in the world. In many populations, brown is truly the only eye color present. Brown eyes contain the largest amount of melanin, plus they tend to be common in Africa, Americas, as well as Asia. Brown eye color is rare in countries like Germany, Poland, Finland, or Sweden.
Green eyes are among the rarest eye color, and they tend to be common in Northern as well as Eastern Europe. A study published in Preventive Medicine reports that almost 90% of the Icelandic population has either green or blue eyes. Yet another study of Icelander and Dutch adults found that green eyes are more common in women than in men.

Eye colour is determined by the amount of pigments, and their type, in the eye's iris. The iris is the muscle that expands and contracts your eye pupil size to control the amount of light it recives. More light will make it contract, less light will make it dilate so that it can catch more light and see more details. The iris can also be effected by cetrain situations and emotions, for example-did you know that whenever you see something (or someone) that you like your pupils dialte about 45%? This is so you can see that apple of your eye more clearly as you get more light to come through.

Eye colour is an inherited feautre that is effected by more the just one gene. The OCA2 gene is found to have the biggest influence (about 74 percent) for the total variation of the human eye colour, as this gene controls the amount of melanin pigment that is being produced. Melanin is a protein that causes darkening in order to have better UV-protection. It is produced in a specific cell type which is named the melanocyte. Melanin may not be present at birth but develops with age, which explains eye colour change from blue to a different colour (most commonly, brown) at babies. This usualyy happens within the first year but can still go on as a person ages. People with hazel coloured eyes might develo p more melanin and darken as these people get older. An complete lack of melanin is also possible, at Albinos the iris is almost transparent and so the visibilty of blood vessels is much higher, resulting in pink or red iris colour and a much higher vulnerability to UV-radiation from the sun.

If you fancy a change in eye colour and can't "wait and see" what, if at all, time will do on its own, you can try coloured eye lenses. These come in a big varity of many different colours, some of which are more natural coloures and some which are completely unnatural and great for parties, dress-ups and not to forget Halloween.

Have we ever wondered just what eye color your child will have? Many parents, seeing their newborn's blue eyes, hope they retain that deep blue hue forever. But they might be in for a surprise!
Eye color is determined by the brown pigment, melanin. Depending on the concentration of melanin in the iris, your child ends up with blue, green, or perhaps brown eyes. All newborns have blue eyes because at the time of birth, their irises have certainly not began producing melanin. The real eye color settles in between 6-9 months of age and is mostly determined by genetics.

Whether or not your own child ends up with blue or perhaps brown eyes, keep in mind to love them for that they are. Eye color does definitely not determine character or perhaps inner beauty!