What Is Eye Color?
The resulting hue of the iris, determined primarily by the amount and distribution of the pigment melanin within the iris's anterior layer (the stroma).
read more about eye color ...Link to This Resource Page
Provide a valuable resource to your clients or customers by linking to this resource page. Just place the following link on your website.
To display this...
Copy this HTML:
Mechanism for Blue/Green
Blue and green eyes contain less melanin; the color results not from pigment, but from the scattering of light (Rayleigh scattering) off the stroma, similar to why the sky is blue.
Mechanism for Brown
Brown eyes contain high concentrations of melanin in the stroma, which absorbs most light, resulting in a brown appearance.
Genetics
Eye color is a polygenic trait, meaning it is controlled by multiple genes, with the OCA2 and HERC2 genes being the most significant determinants.
Do eye colors change over time?
Yes, many babies are born with blue eyes which darken as melanin production increases during early childhood. Changes in adulthood are rare and may signal a condition.
Is black eye color possible?
While often described as black, most dark eyes are actually a very deep, dark brown due to extremely high melanin content.
What is heterochromia?
A condition where an individual has two different colored eyes (or multiple colors within one eye).