Comments on: Picture yourself in a boat on a river

Picture yourself in a boat on a river

fandango_matt — Tue, 10 May 2005 11:58:18 -0800

Eye Color calculator.

By: me3dia

me3dia — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:01:54 -0800

Interesting. Where do those of us with "hazel" eyes fit in? Are we green-eyed in the calculator's eyes?

By: me3dia

me3dia — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:06:56 -0800

(Never mind, I found it on the "about this eye calculator" page. Annoying that even the ancillary pages are in Flash.)

By: Possum

Possum — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:06:58 -0800

Note: If you have brown eyes and your mama and daddy both have blue eyes, you were probably adopted.

By: leapfrog

leapfrog — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:15:06 -0800

Both parents have blue eyes + you have brown eyes = affectionate mailman.

By: anthill

anthill — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:18:57 -0800

No way to pick grey eyes? Also, I noted that the GEY gene controls eye color. Huh huh huh, they said gay.

By: seawallrunner

seawallrunner — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:25:06 -0800

What a stupid test: I am informed that I have 'eye color error'!! 'please re-enter eye colors for your parents because our 2-gene model does not allow you to have green eyes when both your parents have blue eyes.' and then they helpfully add: 'Read about how eye color is inherited for a detailed explanation'. Arrogant scientist-types ;)

By: Kellydamnit

Kellydamnit — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:26:28 -0800

This is very neat! Although with hazel eyes, I don't know quite where I fit in. If my eyes are called "brown" or "green" changes the results quite a bit.

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:35:52 -0800

all green vs. all blue = anywhere from half and half to all green. all brown vs. all blue = mostly brown, some green, little to no blue. which of these is closer to hazel vs. blue?

By: veedubya

veedubya — Tue, 10 May 2005 13:22:22 -0800

Surprisingly, it worked for me. I have blue eyes, my ex-wife has brown/green eyes. We have two children, the first with brown eyes, the second with blue eyes. Given the (ex-)other-halves family history (almost exclusively brown eyes, with the occasional green cropping up), I was led to believe that, short of some bizarre random mutation, blue eyes in any of our children was next to impossible. Thus, when dub-the-youngest's eyes refused to change to brown, as expected, I was puzzled. Not that I ever doubted.

By: Bugbread

Bugbread — Tue, 10 May 2005 14:45:57 -0800

I suspect it may be just a weeeeeeee bit off for me. Brown eyed parents, blue eyed me (blue gene inherited from grandmother on one side, grandfather on other). Brown eyed wife, with brown eyed parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and on as far as Japanese or Korean history cares to count. But somehow I have a 1 in 4 chance of having a blue or green eyed kid. Considering there isn't a single blue eyed gene in my wife's lineage, is this a fancy way of saying that cloning will advance enough that I'll have a 1 in 4 chance of cloning a kid instead of making one the old-fashioned way?

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Tue, 10 May 2005 15:23:34 -0800

My mother has brown eyes; my father has hazel eyes. I have hazel eyes. I'm not even bothering with this thing. (Brown, blue, green; my ass.)

By: kyrademon

kyrademon — Tue, 10 May 2005 16:12:54 -0800

Not even going to try. My eyes are blue-gray-green with brown and yellow flecks. I've had people stare into them for lengthy periods trying to figure out what color they were. Not that I mind ...

By: graventy

graventy — Tue, 10 May 2005 17:31:53 -0800

Ha ha! seewallrunner was adopted! They could handle a little more depth here. I mean, grey? Hazel? Also, I have blue eyes, but they aren't the pretty dazzling blue eyes some have. Isn't that a difference?

By: Asparagirl

Asparagirl — Tue, 10 May 2005 17:32:41 -0800

Fun! Thanks, fandango_matt.

By: schyler523

schyler523 — Tue, 10 May 2005 19:03:37 -0800

*stares into kyrademon's eyes... I would like more variables too, but look at bugbreads "impossible" child. More variables would likely get you the result of "Your child(ren) will have eyes. Hopefully."

By: jb

jb — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:17:08 -0800

They fully admit that the two gene model is flawed - why then the fancy flash propagation of a flawed model. My fiance's parents both have eyes whose colour you would say was closest to blue - his mother's are grey, but I would have said more blue grey than green grey. However, his brother (who otherwise strongly resembles both parents) has one hazel and one half hazel and half green eye. This does not work under their model. It would be more interesting to see images of the eyes of actual families, to illustrate all sorts of permutations, and explore at least descriptively some of the stranger combinations which have cast doubt on the simple two gene model.

By: Absit Invidia

Absit Invidia — Tue, 10 May 2005 20:17:34 -0800

In genotype circumstances nearly identical to Bugbread's, my kid had bright hazel eyes when he was born, but they turned light brown by his first birthday. Interestingly, his hair has stayed blond.

By: blindsam

blindsam — Tue, 10 May 2005 22:10:24 -0800

oh well, so should I have children with the woman snoring next to me, our kids will probably have blue eyes, and if not green. That's not so bad... (you know, you've got think these things through)

By: Monday

Monday — Wed, 11 May 2005 03:39:29 -0800

bugbread's example points out a flaw in their model: that two generations may not be enough information. Sometimes it is. My parents are both O-. Thus all their children have to be O-. This is because O- is a recessive trait; we know that me and my parents only carry the O- gene. My husband on the other hand is A+, as are both of his parents. This simply does not give us enough information. It is possible that he is an AA (double dominant) or AO (the A dominates to make the blood type A). Now if he is AA, then all of our children will have the A blood type. If he is an AO, then half would be A, the other half O. Now according to my math, there is a 2/3 chance that my husband is an AO. This doesn't mean we have a 2/3 chance having a fifty-fifty chance of an O type child. He is either AA or AO. But if we take population as a whole, I believe this would be true. I am guessing this is what the premise of the site is.

By: artifarce

artifarce — Wed, 11 May 2005 10:46:46 -0800

I'd also like more "variables," but the point is that this site is using the current model of eye color, flawed or not. Eye color is also based on drugs, nutrition, and medical history, i.e., the environment. I tried to get some good resources for this, but kept encountering a concept known as iridology, which confused the whole matter. The problem is that one assumes an organism somehow understands "dominant" and "recessive"--in this case, as with several other genetic examples, an allele is dominant simply because it masks the presence of other alleles, yet both alleles produce pigment. This could explain the variations in eye color as well. If you had access to more of your lineage's eye color, you might be better able to determine why your own eye color is that particular strange shade of turquoise, even with only the 2 gene model to guide you. Incidently, the statement on that site that that babies are all born with blue eyes is bogus. My first daughter was born with brown eyes so dark they were black--and both her parents have hazeishl eyes! At 3 years old the color is still dark brown. Ironically, my blue-eyed girl is more "expected," which until now has ran counter to what I'd expect.