Are All Blue-Eyed People Descendants of One Ancient Ancestor?

If you have blue eyes, you might have wondered why your eyes have this distinctive color, or perhaps you’ve just admired them as a symbol of beauty. However, according to scientists, blue eyes trace back to a single genetic mutation that occurred 6,000 to 10,000 years ago in a European ancestor.

Researchers have discovered that this mutation affected a gene responsible for melanin production, the protein that determines the color of our eyes and hair. Originally, all human eyes were brown, but a mutation in the HERC2 gene switched off the OCA2 gene, which controls the production of melanin, resulting in blue eyes.

Today, about 8-10% of the global population has blue eyes, and scientists believe all of these individuals could be descendants of the same person. This discovery highlights a fascinating link between modern humans and a single ancestor from ancient Europe, marking a remarkable chapter in human evolution.