green, black, brown, blue?

December 8, 2005 6:46 PM

Not settled after all partial genetic explaination of eye color. it's not one classic dominant/recessive allele a la the monk Mendel. three known + unknown genes involved, everybody's still beautiful.
posted by longsleeves (19 comments total)

A second gene, located on chromosome 19 (the gey gene) has a blue and a green allele

oh noes!
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 6:54 PM on December 8, 2005

Years ago I dated a very beautiful young lady who just happened to have one brown and one blue eye. So much for a simple genetic explanation.
posted by skeeter1 at 7:09 PM on December 8, 2005

...but people with brown eyes are a bit prettier than the others.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:25 PM on December 8, 2005

...except thems with the steel cold baby blues.
posted by scarabic at 7:46 PM on December 8, 2005

What about one eye?
posted by parallax7d at 7:51 PM on December 8, 2005

I don't know where you heard that, scarabic, but I assure you it's untrue. Trust me on this, I have a degree in science.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:59 PM on December 8, 2005

Parallax7d, that was beautiful. Thanks.
posted by Rothko at 8:30 PM on December 8, 2005

parallax7d, that was really great.
posted by amro at 8:58 PM on December 8, 2005

Eye color calculator, previously on mefi (it's fun!).
posted by artifarce at 9:00 PM on December 8, 2005

both parents brown eyes, my eyes blue. What is your relationship to your parent's eyes?
posted by mk1gti at 9:06 PM on December 8, 2005

Years ago I dated a very beautiful young lady who just happened to have one brown and one blue eye. So much for a simple genetic explanation.

David Bowie's similar. His was the result of an injury to one eye.
posted by pompomtom at 9:49 PM on December 8, 2005

Its said that the differing eye colours can often be explained in females by a process called Lyonization.
Its the same process responsible for calico cats.
posted by scodger at 10:25 PM on December 8, 2005

It cannot explain how two blue-eyed parents can produce a brown-eyed child

For that you'll have to ask the mailman.
posted by BrotherCaine at 10:41 PM on December 8, 2005 [1 favorite]

I got an acquaintance with blue & brown eyes. Don't think it was an injury thing.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:49 PM on December 8, 2005

Its said that the differing eye colours can often be explained in females by a process called Lyonization.

Said by whom? That only makes sense of one of the relevant genes is on the X chromosome. On the one hand, the genes listed here are not. On the other, I don't fully understand eye color genetics, and the experts might not know that much better.
posted by grouse at 11:34 PM on December 8, 2005

Seems like it was said by my high school biology teacher in error.
A quick search shows this page on medline, the technical term being Heterochromia.
posted by scodger at 12:11 AM on December 9, 2005

I went to school with a girl who had one brown eye and one half-brown, half-another color (blue, I think?) eye. So wierd, but kinda pretty.
posted by DakotaPaul at 2:02 AM on December 9, 2005

parallax7d, I third the sentiment. Why not make the Annai video an FPP?
posted by of strange foe at 3:12 PM on December 9, 2005

Okay, but what about women whose carpet doesn't match the drapes? Is there a test for that?
posted by squirrel at 4:43 PM on December 9, 2005