Have you ever wondered why people have different eye colour?
Though in this part of the world it's rare to see people with different eye colours, as most of us Africans have the same eye colour.
But if you watch foreign movies, or might've met a number of white people, you'll realize that their eye colour is different from yours.
It actually involves a combination of genetics, light, and a tiny bit of magic…lol.
So…what determines our Eye Colour?
Our eye colouration comes from a part of the eye called the iris(the coloured part)
The iris has two layers:
the stroma (front layer) and the epithelium (back layer). The epithelium has special cells known as melanocytes that produces pigments(or colour)…
Big words…I know😂
These cells(melanocytes) produce a pigment called melanin.
melanin is responsible for the colouration of not just our eyes, but our skin and hair also.
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒐𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑴𝒆𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏
There are two types of melanin found in the eyes:
Eumelanin(responsible for brown and black colours), and pheomelanin(responsible for red and yellow colours) The mix of these two types of melanin determines our eye color.
You don't need to catch these big words…no exams is forthcoming😂. It's just so you understanding the process
Let's move ahead
𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬: Brown eyes occur when there's a lot of eumelanin in the iris. The more the eumelanin, the darker the brown
source𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬: Blue eyes happen when light scatters as it passes the iris. this is possible where there's little to no melanin in the iris, allowing light to give the appearance of blue.
source𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬: Green eyes happen when there's a mix of melanin and light. The melanin absorbs some of the light, while the remaining light scatters in the iris.
source𝐇𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐥 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬: Hazel eyes are a mix of brown(eumelanin and green(pheomelanin), happening when there's a combination of melanin and light scattering.
source𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐄𝐲𝐞𝐬: this occurs when there's very little melanin in the iris.
source
𝐏.𝐒: if you're seeing this and think you've got black eyes, well…you don't. Your eyes are brown. Dark brown.
You're welcome 😊
In determining eye colour, genetics does play a huge role. As a mix of the colours of our parents' eyes determines that of ours.
We'll discuss more on this within the week.
Until then…Ciao