"'Brown eyes contain a high concentration of melanin, which absorbs light and creates their darker appearance,' she wrote on The Conversation. 'Blue eyes contain very little melanin. 'In blue eyes, the shorter wavelengths of light - such as blue - are scattered more effectively than longer wavelengths like red or yellow. 'Due to the low concentration of melanin, less light is absorbed, allowing the scattered blue light to dominate what we perceive. This blue hue results not from pigment but from the way light interacts with the eye's structure.'"
"Green eyes, on the other hand, are rare because they are the result of a genetic quirk that lowers levels of melanin - but not as low as in blue eyes. Hazel eyes are even more complex - as uneven melanin distribution in the iris creates a 'mosaic' of colour that can shift depending on the light."
"'This explains why children in the same family can have dramatically different eye colours, and why two blue-eyed parents can sometimes have a child with green or even light brown eyes,' Dr Beaver said."
Eye colour depends on the amount and distribution of melanin in the iris and on how light is scattered by the eye's structure. Brown eyes have high melanin that absorbs light and creates a darker appearance. Blue eyes have very little melanin, so shorter wavelengths are scattered more effectively, producing a blue hue without blue pigment. Green and hazel eyes result from intermediate melanin levels or uneven melanin distribution, creating shifting or mosaic colours. Multiple genes determine eye colour, producing varied outcomes among siblings and sometimes unexpected colours as melanin levels change after birth.
Read at Mail Online
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