to really not understand the genetics involved in eye color?

[CheerfulYank]

It's all very confusing. I remember something about punnett squares, and two blue eyed people not "being able" to have a brown-eyed child, but now I think that's a myth, isn't it? Or something?

My eyes are a very pale blue, DH's are brownish hazel. DS's are blue. I was just on a website "predicting" your future children's eye colors and it said they would be brown as DH's are brown, but that's obviously not the case.

Can someone who did not spend high school biology class flirting with their lab partner explain this to me? In small words?

I actually thought spontaneous mutations can account for brown eyed offspring of blue eyed parents.

Two blue eyed parents can have a brown eyed child

I have green eyes (the sort of muddy green normally found in ponds...); DH has SCARY china blue.

DCs have, in order, dark brown, green, blue, nut brown & blue. Used to sleep around a lot before marriage, but not since, so that can't explain it. Suspect DH has slept around a bit since marriage, but doubt that explains it either.

PS. If brown is dominant, how come after many generations everyone doesn't have brown eyes? Just wondering ...

"PS. If brown is dominant, how come after many generations everyone doesn't have brown eyes? Just wondering ..."

I think it's a bit of a mystery. The thought is all the blue eye people evolve from one common ancestor, but quite why the genes for blue eyes spread so rapidly nobody knows for sure.

It's a bit like why ginger people exist, we always tease my mum (ginger) that they must have some undiscovered hidden power which means that although their genes are recessive they haven't died out

BB is rare and it is the only colour which will be 100% passed down.
It really isnt that hard to understand.
Its only passed on by males and it has to be unmarked...
So any other gene type will leave parents guessing cause it can spread to form any colour.

Anyway i wouldnt worry too much about it lol
Babies are beautiful who cares what colour eyes they have :)

p.s Its not just brown that is dominant it is a special kind of brown :)

Seriously? You honestly think it more plausible that DD was swapped, or that I'm the Virgin Mary incarnate.

tyler recessive genes don't mean the gene dies out, just that there is a greater chance their effects will be masked. Therefore based on the most basic model 2 people with dominant phenotype (ie showing characteristic of dominant gene) both carry the recessive gene then they can very easily have a child with the recessive phenotype. Factor in all he more complicated genetic factors and there are lots of possible permutations.

What's more a recessive gene does not automatically code for a weaker characteristic. In some cases the mutation that created the gene ends up coding for a stronger characteristic, ie a characteristic with a selective advantage thereby complicating the issue further.

scarah don't let people wind you up IMO they are being a bit mean with their comments. Even the companies who try and sell paternity test kits admit in their blurb that eye colour is not an effective way of estimating paternity. If people want to believe it is then that's their problem.

Scarah - My posts were rather tongue-in-cheek, as I thought were obvious from my liberal use of smiley faces. I wasn't trying to wind you up.

"the companies who try and sell paternity test kits admit in their blurb that eye colour is not an effective way of estimating paternity"

What does eye color have to do with paternity tests that compare DNAs (not photos) of father & child?

Ahh, afraid I took :) to be a rather PA smiley. Apology accepted [hgrin]

I think they were saying that your children having a different eye colour to yourself is not an indication of needing a paternity test. I can't see why someone would be paying for a paternity test unless there was some question over paternity IYSWIM.

Yes the test compares actual DNA but the comments were about the actual decision to have the test in the first place.