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Brad Pitt Mutation Appeared 6,000 to 10,000 Years Ago
Gene researchers at the University of Copenhagen have concluded that the mutation that created blue eyes in humans arose in Europe sometime between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago. Blue-eyed people all share exactly the same change to their genetic make-up.
"From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor," [researcher Hans] Eiberg said. "They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA." Eiberg and his colleagues detailed their study in the Jan. 3 online edition of the journal Human Genetics.
See above for recent exemplars expressing this mutation.
Researcher John Hawks from the University of Wisconsin further speculates:
"The question really is, 'Why did we go from having nobody on Earth with blue eyes 10,000 years ago to having 20 or 40 percent of Europeans having blue eyes now?" Hawks said. "This gene does something good for people. It makes them have more kids."
Link to Livescience article describing the research here.
Disclosure: I've said it before and I'm saying it again: Some of my best friends have blue eyes. In addition, my wife tells me that I have hazel eyes, although my driver's license says I have brown ones.
Episiarch|2.1.08 @ 11:20AM|#
How dare you create any sort of equivalence between the Chairman of the Board and Johnny Suede.
the innominate one|2.1.08 @ 11:25AM|#
you are not a special or unique snowflake
you are the same, decaying organic matter as the planet
Nate|2.1.08 @ 11:26AM|#
I'm glad you mention that in the disclosure. My girlfriend, who is Japanese, calls me out on what I used to think were brown eyes. Apparently, they're half brown and half green or something. And judging by the Japanese eye color, she may very well be right.
drawnasunder|2.1.08 @ 11:30AM|#
Hmmm, I read somewhere that Thulsa Doom had blue eyes. 10,000-6,000 years ago sound right. His influence is far and wide.
|2.1.08 @ 11:30AM|#
My wife and I both have blue-(ish) eyes.
Am I having sex with a cousin?
CB
(Dislaimer: I AM from the South, so... take your best shot.)
|2.1.08 @ 11:31AM|#
"This gene does something good for people. It makes them
have more kids."
Is he implying that sexual selction plays a role in human evolution
just like it does for
birds of paradise?
I actually love further proof that we are just another member of
the animal kingdom. Humility is good.
Walt Disney|2.1.08 @ 11:33AM|#
Nate: Apparently, they're half brown and
half green or something.
That's called hazel.
Wikipedia: "A number of studies using three-point scales have
assigned 'hazel' to be the medium-color between light brown and
dark green."
It goes on to say that hazel eyes are frequently mixed in
color.
|2.1.08 @ 11:50AM|#
Blue eyes may be the color of fecundity, but green eyes are the color of money.
My eyes are so money and they don't even know it!
The Wine Commonsewer|2.1.08 @ 11:52AM|#
Why did we go from having nobody on Earth with blue eyes
10,000 years ago to having 20 or 40 percent of Europeans having
blue eyes now?
Easy. The people from the 12th planet all had blue eyes and they
showed up with their Siamese Cats and their clones just about 8,000
to 10,000 years ago give or take a few centuries.
That's why the fundies believe in a new earth.
highnumber|2.1.08 @ 11:57AM|#
"This gene does something good for people. It makes them
have more kids."
What did I miss here? How does this follow?
Is it just because the population went from none to 20 - 40% of
Europeans in 10,000 years?
(Could it be that blue eyes also make one ask too many questions in
one blog comment?)
The Wine Commonsewer|2.1.08 @ 11:57AM|#
medium-color between light brown and dark green.
Interesting. Back in the Stone Age when I was doing a bonehead bio
class taught by a surfer with a passion for genetics (hey, it was
Californicate, what do you expect?) we were taught that there
really are only two eye colors. Blue and Brown. All the other
colors are just variations. From light brown to black is all brown.
And from light gray to green was all blue.
Then again, sometimes I don't remember stuff as clearly as I think
I do. I blame the wine.
Anyhoooo, that class was interesting but it was hard as hell. I
mean, for being bio for non-majors it certainly wasn't a cake walk.
Hardest class I ever had I think.
Jennifer|2.1.08 @ 12:02PM|#
Blue-eyed commenter here! Pinnacle of evolution, that's me. And apparently related to Sinatra, too.
The Wine Commonsewer|2.1.08 @ 12:05PM|#
Oh, and for the record, Mrs TWC has the biggest most beautiful
brown puppy dog eyes you've ever seen. I've got beady little blue
eyes.
The House Blond and my son both got the big beautiful eyes and
despite the recessive nature of blue eyes the kids both got blue
eyes. But the color is exceptionally striking. A very bold
beautiful and unusual shade of blue.
First Little Pig|2.1.08 @ 12:06PM|#
You mean "used" to have more kids. Or perhaps it is a dominant
gene... but I doubt that. I suspect that the trends now are against
blue eyes.
My family: Mom, Blue. Dad, Brown. Eldest Sis, Brown, Younger Sis,
brown,
Me: Green.
stuartl|2.1.08 @ 12:13PM|#
"This gene does something good for people. It makes them
have more kids."
Also from the article:
The mutation affected the so-called OCA2 gene, which is
involved in the production of melanin, the pigment that gives color
to our hair, eyes and skin.
IIRC, having less melanin in the skin is useful at higher latitudes
because it allows the body to create more vitamin D.
|2.1.08 @ 12:20PM|#
Nate - what can Japanese people possibly know about eye color
with those little slits?
Commence Episiarch and joe slap fight....NOW!
Episiarch|2.1.08 @ 12:20PM|#
Lo Pan? Which Lo Pan? The little old basket case on wheels or the ten foot tall roadblock?
|2.1.08 @ 12:41PM|#
Disclosure: I've said it before and I'm saying it again:
Some of my best friends have blue eyes. In addition, my wife tells
me that I have hazel eyes, although my driver's license says I have
brown ones.
Shilling for big blue eyes
Someone had to have already said this
|2.1.08 @ 12:45PM|#
Glare of sunlight on snow is less intense to blue eyes then
brown eyes thus giving blue eyes a better advantage in their
environment and more likely to survive to have children.
This is total speculation
highnumber|2.1.08 @ 12:48PM|#
joshua corning,
I think you have it backwards - glare is a bigger problem for
blue-eyed folk.
I could be wrong.
|2.1.08 @ 12:53PM|#
Of course, the brown-eyed could finish off the blue-eyed at any moment if they chose to. Brown eyes adjust to darkness much better than blue. In other words, you'll never see it coming.
robc|2.1.08 @ 1:08PM|#
From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are
linked to the same ancestor
Okay, I remember seeing that everyone from about 3k years ago who
has a descendent alive today is an ancestor to ALL people alive
today. 2k for middle easterners (living in ME 2k years ago, that
is).
Isnt the statement I quoted fricking obvious then? Even though I am
brown eyed, Im a descendent of that same ancestor.
|2.1.08 @ 1:10PM|#
I've heard that blue eyes are an indicator of youthfulness. For
example, some mammals (big cats, humans) are sometimes born with
blue eyes, but the color changes as they grow older. So blue eyes
in an adult would be suggestive of youth (fertility for women)
which would be a selective advantage for women, and then passed
down onto their progeny. I've heard similar arguments for blond
hair.
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/f/eyecolor.htm
Full disclosure: I was born with blue eyes, now they are hazel.
First Little Pig|2.1.08 @ 1:22PM|#
I have read that the reason for blue eyes as well as blond hair
is due to clothing: In warm climes secondary sexual characteristics
such as buttocks, legs, breasts, etc are commonly exposed all year
round, yet in cold climes those things are all covered up. Blue
eyes and blond hair evolved bcse they are perceived indicators of
youth and fertility (especially the hair -- the eyes could be a
related mutation with less of an advantage -- since all cultures
demonstrate a preference for women with youthful (read light
colored not gray) hair)
I kinda thot I read it here in Hit and Run
The Wine Commonsewer|2.1.08 @ 1:31PM|#
Glare of sunlight on snow is less intense to blue
eyes
Not mine. Not at the beach neither. Been wearing Raybans since they
were cheap drugstore shades and were not particularly cool.
My blue eyes are particularly sensitive to the diffused sunlight on
a hazy or slightly foggy day. Like GWB's million points of light,
each reflected of a mirror-like droplet of moisture and focused
like a laser on my retinas.
Zeb|2.1.08 @ 1:43PM|#
"Okay, I remember seeing that everyone from about 3k years ago
who has a descendant alive today is an ancestor to ALL people alive
today."
That can't be true. I am pretty sure that I am not descended from,
say, and Australian aboriginal from 3000 years ago.
|2.1.08 @ 1:57PM|#
Still only brown or dark-green eyes can be considered "bedroom
eyes." Blue eyes just don't cut it. They don't smolder.
My family: Dad has blue; mom has brown; older brother has blue;
older sister has wonderful green with copper flecks; second older
sister has brown; and I have brown.
Jennifer|2.1.08 @ 2:10PM|#
Still only brown or dark-green eyes can be considered
"bedroom eyes." Blue eyes just don't cut it. They don't
smolder.
Whether or not eyes are smoldering depends entirely upon who
they're looking at. If your blue-eyed girlfriend doesn't smolder at
you, it means you're doing something wrong.
BakedPenguin|2.1.08 @ 2:20PM|#
Of course, the brown-eyed could finish off the blue-eyed at any moment if they chose to. Brown eyes adjust to darkness much better than blue.
Depends on the personal habit of the individual w/ the blue eyes,
PL. Marijuana use improves
night vision.
|2.1.08 @ 2:27PM|#
Why did we go from having nobody on Earth with blue eyes
10,000 years ago to having 20 or 40 percent of Europeans having
blue eyes now?
Exotic sells. Get a mutation for violet eyes, or pretty much any
unique color, and that gene would spread too.
BlueBook|2.1.08 @ 3:47PM|#
I read somewhere that there is a correlation between lighter eyes and anxiety disorders. Dunno if they ever found any hard evidence to back it up.
Brett|2.1.08 @ 5:02PM|#
I'm an ashamed brown-eyed father of a mutant blue-eyed son. If it's genetic, then can't these blue-eyed bastards be cured?
|2.1.08 @ 6:35PM|#
Glare of sunlight on snow is less intense to blue eyes then
brown eyes thus giving blue eyes a better advantage in their
environment and more likely to survive to have children.
Actually blue eyes are more light sensitive. I like the theory that
blue eyes allow for better vision at dawn and dusk, the best times
for big game hunting. More food to feed kids. Better night vision
would have also helped in the extreme northern latitudes (Baltic
Sea region seems to be the consensus) where they appeared.
lunchstealer|2.1.08 @ 7:35PM|#
I'm an ashamed brown-eyed father of a mutant blue-eyed son.
If it's genetic, then can't these blue-eyed bastards be
cured?
I believe that you could find a cure in the text for Oedipus.
|2.1.08 @ 8:13PM|#
The illegals aliens with brown eyes seem to have more kids than
the natives with blue eyes.
I knew my baby-blues would get me into trouble. To avoid paying
child support to multiple women, I got fixed at 26.
|2.1.08 @ 8:19PM|#
If you're still counting, here's one more green-eyed female;
with my blue-eyed husband we made a blue-eyed daughter.
My dad, mom, brother and sister all had brown eyes.
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