What do celebrities like actor Chris Hemsworth and singer Taylor Swift have in common, besides phenomenal success? Blue eyes, like those of the unforgettable Paul Newman that bewitched the world for decades, making him a film legend and an icon of timeless charm. Today, however, a study reveals that deep blue is not only a gift of nature, but that anyone privileged to sport a “heavenly” gaze shares a common ancestor with these stars.
The discovery, which goes back thousands of years, shows that all people with blue eyes have a genetic connection going back to a single individual who lived in Europe between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.
Originally, every human had brown eyes, but a specific mutation allowed the change. Scientists at the University of Copenhagen have identified the gene responsible for this transformation: HERC2 acts as a “switch,” turning off OCA2, the gene that regulates the amount of brown pigment produced by the iris, causing it to drop dramatically.
Although during infancy infants’ eyes may look blue, hazel pigment can develop later, and can change their color as they grow. Only 10 percent of the population can boast a cerulean look, but despite geographic and cultural distances, these individuals share an ancestral line that unites them into one large global family.
This study not only reveals a fascinating chapter in our evolution, but reminds us how interconnected we are, even in the most surprising details.
