Genetic Mutation is Reason Why Black People Are Born with Blue Eyes

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen say genetic mutation is the reason why Black people are born with blue eyes

As reported by Travel Noire, a study of 800 blue-eyed men and women from several countries “found that all the participants have the same DNA sequence for blue eyes, thanks to a genetic mutation that took place an estimated 10,000 years ago,” the outlet writes. 

“Originally, we all had brown eyes,” Professor Hans Eiberg from the university’s Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, argues in the study. “But a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a ‘switch’ which literally ‘turned off’ the ability to produce brown eyes.”

Here’s more from the report:

The OCA2 gene formerly called the P gene is a gene code that produces a pigment called melanin, according to scientists with Medline Plus. Melanin is the substance that gives skin, hair, and eyes their color. Scientists believe the mutation altered the amount of melanin produced in the iris of the eyes. Because the melanin concentration is too low to produce brown eyes, blue eyes are produced instead.

It is believed that almost every blue-eyed person on earth today inherited the same gene mutation from the same source, according to research from Edmund Custers, who has spent more than a decade in clinical research writing about human anatomy and physiology.

According to Custers, Black people born with blue eyes are affected by the same OCA2 genetic mutation. Waardenburg syndrome can also impact eye color, per the report.