Is there something that can cause someone's eyes to have different colors? And if yes, how frequent are cases like these? Just a thought in the night...
Posted by Inspired (Member # 8130) on :
Its only 6 o'clock, what are you talking about "the night" It's still light out, and birds are even chirping.
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Not everyone is in the same time zone, ya know, Inspired. I think Corwin is in France right now, although I'm not sure, he moves around somewhat.
Posted by mothertree (Member # 4999) on :
That cop in "Practical Magic" had different colored eyes. I realize it was a fictitious character. But I imagine it happens just like any other birthmark. Alaskan Huskies apparently have different colored eyes quite often. Some people have all their organs backwards, heart on the right etc.
Posted by punwit (Member # 6388) on :
I remember a kid about 4 or 5 years younger than me that rode our school bus had one green eye and one brown eye. I always thought it was kinda cool. A badge of uniqueness that set him apart. I realize it's easy for me to say and that he might have hated it for the very same reason, but still, I thought it was cool.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
David Bowie has one blue, one green eye. So does Mila Kunis (the cute chick from "That 70s Show)
My knowledge of pop culture is both embarassing and all encompassing.
Posted by Tater (Member # 7035) on :
I'm kind of worried about my dad's eye color.
He's got light brown eyes, but they are starting to lose their color. Try to imagine this: There's a blue ring around the whole color part of the eye, but there's a completely colorless ring around the light brown part. It looks like the color has just drained out of it.
He won't go to the doctor.
He tells me sometimes he wakes up and can't see for a few minutes, and he has frequent bad headaches, but he's always just told me he has "sinus problems." (as if that would explain everything.)
eye color genetics are pretty complicated, despite what your intro text books would have you believe. The most simplecases have only two eye colors in humnan populations, brown (wild type) and blue. The blue color is recessive and can only be expressed when you have two blue eyed parents, unless there is something else going on, and there is ALWAYS something else going on. Genes have all sorts of modifiers that can influence the way that they are expressed, then of course ther is environmental influences...oy!
Posted by Avadaru (Member # 3026) on :
My friend Alex has one brown and one blue eye. When I took him to a dog show, the first thing my friends said was, "Hey, he's just like an Australian shepherd!" Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :
Hey, Tater, how old is your dad? And does high cholesterol run in the family? Arcus senilus might be what you are describing (I was thinking it before I saw your link) but I can't tell from your description.
[ June 04, 2005, 09:20 PM: Message edited by: Theca ]
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I did not know that about David Bowie! It's cool to have 2 different colour eyes, I think.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
My grandfather had that ring around his eyes (which were blue).
I thought you could have blue eyes if one of your parents were blue eyed and the other had the blue recessive, or both parents had a blue recessive. So, two brown eyed people could have a blue eyed kid, but two blue eyed parents couldn't have a brown eyed kid.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
I've known two people with different coloured eyes. both were women and both were very beautiful.
One of them had two colours in the same eye. the southwestern half was blue and the north eastern half was brown.
Posted by Mike (Member # 55) on :
mack, I think you're right. On the other hand, it is very unusual for blue-eyed parents to have brown-eyed kids.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Man, if nathan and I had brown eyed kids, we'd both be wondering. o_O
Posted by Starla* (Member # 5835) on :
I've known 3 women with one dark brown eye and one hazel brown eye.
One was a friend whose mother said she was a child of satan because of it. Well, if she was a child of satan, I wonder who her mother was sleeping with.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
The two different color eyes is an interesting thing. It's a fairly common genetic aberration, and it has to do with a strange thing that can happen at the blastula phase (If I recall correctly) during development. Everyone is slightly irregular in that our left & right halves are not exact mirror images of each other. Some people are even MORE different on the two sides and its because the cells that ended up on the left side and the right side have slightly different genes.
I've forgotten the precise mechanism for this, but I do remember it being one of the coolest things we studied in developmental psych when I was in grad school. I think I enjoyed it because I was one of the few students in the class who actually had even a moderate grasp of genetics.
Ah well...my mind is mush now. I can't remember anything but that it was fun knowing it once. Long ago...
Posted by Tater (Member # 7035) on :
that link that you gave me looks like his eye. Except there's a distinctive blue ring, and since his eyes are brown, the whole fact that the outer part doesn't have color stands out a lot more.
Cholesterol problems.. hmm, there might be.
Should he see a doctor?
Posted by Mrs.M (Member # 2943) on :
I always thought that differently colored eyes were striking and mysterious.
I've been obsessing about the baby's eye color - will they be brown or green? Andrew's parents both have brown eyes, as do all of his grandparents, except for his paternal grandfather, who had blue eyes. Andrew and his brother both have brown eyes. Both of my parents have green eyes (as do I) and all of my grandparents had green eyes, except for my maternal grandmother, who has brown eyes. According to an eye color calculator sight I found, the baby will probably have brown eyes. However, according to the sight, both my mother and her brother should have brown eyes and they both have green. So, I think that the green-eyed gene is a strong dominant and that the baby has a greater than normal chance of having green eyes.
Of course, I have only the vaguest grasp of genetics, so I could be completely wrong.
[ June 05, 2005, 01:43 AM: Message edited by: Mrs.M ]
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
Mrs. M, eyes are highly multi-factoral, and can surprise even geneticists. They can also be influenced by other linked traits.
Posted by Theca (Member # 1629) on :
It's normal in adults over the age of 55 or so. If he were 40, now, that might suggest high cholesterol. It doesn't affect vision or cause headaches or anything. I wouldn't worry about the ring.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
quote:Originally posted by Bob_Scopatz:
The two different color eyes is an interesting thing. It's a fairly common genetic aberration, and it has to do with a strange thing that can happen at the blastula phase (If I recall correctly) during development. Everyone is slightly irregular in that our left & right halves are not exact mirror images of each other. Some people are even MORE different on the two sides and its because the cells that ended up on the left side and the right side have slightly different genes.
Do I remember correctly that it is strongly linked with certain other genetic abnormalities? The way certain unusual ear shapes almost always indicates specific kidney issues?
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I think it is. I know that people with phenylketonuria (PKU) tend to have lighter hair, eyes, and skin than the rest of their families. I went to PKU camp with my mom one year (they needed extra nurses) and everyone thought we were really high-functioning cases because we are so pale, blue-eyed, and blonde/light brown in my family. *giggle*
Posted by Vadon (Member # 4561) on :
What impresses me is when people's eye color changes from pretty much day to day.
Someone who I know quite well has this happen. It was almost a game for me to check every day to see what color they were. Some days they were green, others blue, sometimes hazel, once they were mixed brown and blue, sometimes mixed blue and green, it's all really cool to see. (Oh, and she told me that in her young childhood sometimes they'd even hit amber/gold.)
Alas, I'm just stuck with blue eyes. ^_^
Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
Mine do that too, Vadon. Let's see, right now the left one is grey with some green at the top and the right is greeny-brown all over. Most days they're green or gray, but they change a lot to have bits of blue, hazel, or light brown/amber. Usually they're more than one colour. The only one they never hit is dark brown. I always loved them; they're really fun. For a while last year, they were the same every day for weeks and I thought they'd settled down and I was really upset! I've also got a friend with a permanent bright amber-gold blotch in one eye. It's kind of neat.
As for the genetics, my dad and 2 sisters have dark brown eyes, my mom and 1 sister have blue eyes, and I'm this crazy mix...
Posted by Phanto (Member # 5897) on :
I have blue eyes, boring somewhat, but they can be very, very harsh and dominating but still soft enough to let other people slip into them easily. This is based from a combination of seeing myself in the mirror during long car rides and of comments from others.
I love my eyes . I dislike being vain, but I will be when my eyes are involved .
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:I thought you could have blue eyes if one of your parents were blue eyed and the other had the blue recessive, or both parents had a blue recessive. So, two brown eyed people could have a blue eyed kid, but two blue eyed parents couldn't have a brown eyed kid.
My understanindg is that it is not so cut-and-dried, although it usually works that way. I think that part of what might mess it up are green-eyed genes, which appear to be able to do whatever they wish.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I knew a girl once who had brown eyes, but one eye was a little less than one quarter green. It was like a pie wedge of green in an otherwise brown eye.
Totally trippy.
Posted by Janger (Member # 4719) on :
Wow, I haven't participated in Hatrack in ages. Now is my chance to redeem myself.
(Clears throat) The condition where a person has two different coloured eyes is called heterochromia iridium. Your eye colour is actually determined by the amount of melanin in the irises. Thus, people with darker hair and skin have more melanin than those with lighter skin and hair. I also think I heard that those with darker eyes can see slightly better than those with lighter ones. But don’t take my word for it.
Here is a picture of Kate Bosworth who also has the condition. ( I'm not sure which one is coreect link so I'll just put them all down)
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/G-Hoon/kate_bosworth_face.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/G-Hoon/kate_bosworth_face.jpg[/IMG]
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
My eyes change color depending on what I'm wearing, how tired I am, and a few other things.
I have had people declare that they were green, dark brown, golden brown, and various related shades. What they actually are is hazel -- the same hazel my dad has, the same hazel one of my brothers has (two of my other siblings have blue eyes almost identical to my mom's, and the other one has chocolate brown eyes), the same hazel my kids have.
It's a cool "color."
mph, it's no so much that green can do whatever it likes. IIRC, there are multiple "green genes," and their pattern of dominance over/to blue and brown varies from type to type.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Thanks, Janger. Now that I knew what to Google, I found many relevant links.
My dad has hazel eyes. I have "grey-hazel" eyes, which change like rivka's but in a different hue range. Blue, grey, green, blue-green, blue-grey, and, when I wear the right shade of grey, silver and gold (which creeps people out ). When I was little, I had light blue eyes. When I was about 6 or 7, they changed to grey-blue. When I was 11 or 12, they started changing color as my hair started getting darker (going from blonde-blonde to an eventual brown-blonde with reddish highlights and the occasional black strand). I was 17 or so before they reached their eventual color.
Now, KetchupPrinceConsort has beautiful chocolate-brown eyes. Ketchup Princess was born with dark grey-blue eyes, which have settled for now at grey-hazel like mine, but with a little more gold and brown in them. I am of the opinion that they will eventually be either green-grey or hazel, and that her hair will probably get much darker as well, since that tends to happen with puberty in my family, but of course, I can't be sure.
Posted by Lord Solar Macharius (Member # 7775) on :
My eyes used to do the Vadon trick, but have since settled on blue green towards the outer edge with a golden ring around the pupil.
I have someone else in my class with identical eyes - it's weird.
Posted by Shan (Member # 4550) on :
I had a pair of emerald green contacts my first year in college, which were lots of fun. They beat ole' blue-grey-mushy green hands down.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
quote:Originally posted by mackillian: I thought you could have blue eyes if one of your parents were blue eyed and the other had the blue recessive, or both parents had a blue recessive. So, two brown eyed people could have a blue eyed kid, but two blue eyed parents couldn't have a brown eyed kid.
For the most part that is true. Brown eyes are dominant, then green, then blue. Though eye color is not as cut and dry as scientists used to think. First it was thought that there were two alleles that controlled for it, then it was 4, now there are 4 that they know of...but say there are other things that they don't understand (that leads to things like hazel, gray, different shades of brown...and the odd case of two blue eyed parents having a brown eyed kid). This page gives some interesting info: http://www.seps.org/cvoracle/faq/eyecolor.html Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Oooh, great link! *saves*
Posted by Pixie (Member # 4043) on :
I'm in with those whose eyes change depending on mood and what's being worn or how tired they are. Sometimes they're a deep cerulean blue and others they're an almost clear ice-blue. Usually they're somewhat inbetween. I do have one space on both eyes, though, that is always a little lighter while directly across from it is always darker/deeper.
I know that certain types of blue eyes can be hurt more easilly by light than others but that's the only color-sight connection I know of?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I saw a woman at my temp job with this bit of brown in one hazel eye. It looks so cool!
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
I've been told my eyes change color as well. If I'm wearing blue, they're blue. Green, then they're green. At fencing I was wearing my lame, which is silver, and I was told that my eyes matched the lame . Not only that, but then they proceeded to keeping looking. o_O
Posted by jebus202 (Member # 2524) on :
quote:Man, if nathan and I had brown eyed kids, we'd both be wondering. o_O
I have brown eyes so there wouldn't be much wondering to do.
Posted by imenimok (Member # 7679) on :
quote: I also think I heard that those with darker eyes can see slightly better than those with lighter ones. But don’t take my word for it.
<--- Not taking your word for it. My eyes couldn't possibly be any darker, and I"m useless without my contacts. But then, I am an anomaly. Hmmm.
Btw, Jane Seymour has two different colors, too.
Posted by mackillian (Member # 586) on :
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush) has one hazel eye and one blue eye.
quote:One of them had two colours in the same eye. the southwestern half was blue and the north eastern half was brown.
My mother had this - one eye was half blue and half brown. The other eye was all blue.
People asked her about it all the time. She started telling them that she got stabbed in the eye and the brown part was the scar.
Posted by ludosti (Member # 1772) on :
I knew a guy with one brown eye and one green eye. It wasn't immediately noticable because he also wore glasses, but it looked pretty cool when you did notice it.
I'm one of the chameleon eye people. My eyes are a very pale blue/green/grey and tend to change colors depending on what I'm wearing, mood, and weather.
Posted by Miriya (Member # 7822) on :
Mrs. M said:
quote:I've been obsessing about the baby's eye color - will they be brown or green? Andrew's parents both have brown eyes, as do all of his grandparents, except for his paternal grandfather, who had blue eyes. Andrew and his brother both have brown eyes. Both of my parents have green eyes (as do I) and all of my grandparents had green eyes, except for my maternal grandmother, who has brown eyes. According to an eye color calculator sight I found, the baby will probably have brown eyes. However, according to the sight, both my mother and her brother should have brown eyes and they both have green. So, I think that the green-eyed gene is a strong dominant and that the baby has a greater than normal chance of having green eyes.
I'm playing the eye colour roulette myself right now so I couldn't resist replying to you. While the genetics of eye colour are not entirely clear cut (at least 3 genes involved) the basic principles I learned in second year genetics come out right most of the time. Using the info you provided statistics say that your husband has a 1/8 chance of both carrying the gene for blue eyes and also passing it on. In that case your baby would have their eye colour determined by your genes.
You are carrying the gene for green eyes (I don't know if you have true green or hazel/green but either trumps blue) and you MAY be carrying the gene for blue. So you have a 1/8 chance of having a child with blue or green eyes (based on the info you gave me)
I'm still waiting for my green eyed child... with a 25% chance of getting one.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
dkw's eyes change color dramatically depending on the lighting conditions. They go from green to blue to grey...and some colors in between.
The freakiest, though, is when she gives me one of these: o_0
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
They can also be influenced by other linked traits.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
.
![[Evil]](graemlins/evil.gif)
). When I was little, I had light blue eyes. When I was about 6 or 7, they changed to grey-blue. When I was 11 or 12, they started changing color as my hair started getting darker (going from blonde-blonde to an eventual brown-blonde with reddish highlights and the occasional black strand). I was 17 or so before they reached their eventual color.![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)