Why Is It So Rare To Have Red Hair And Blue Eyes
Red hair and blue eyes are both recessive traits which means a person needs to inherit both of the genes for red hair and blue eyes from both parents.
Why is it so rare to have red hair and blue eyes. Both parents must carry the redhead gene for the baby to have red hair. This often results in light blue eyes but can rarely show as pink or pale red-colored eyes when a complete absence of melanin causes tiny blood vessels to become visible. Thanks to the scientists at Copenhagen University we now know that somewhere between 6000 to 10000 years ago everyone had brown eyes according to Science Daily.
Red hair is associated with the gene MC1R a recessive and somewhat rare gene that occurs in only about 2 percent of the worlds population according to the National Institutes of Health. According to Medical Daily both blue eyes and red hair are recessive traits so the likelihood of both traits appearing together is actually pretty slim. Unless youre of European ancestry you dont have much of a chance of inheriting this rare hue.
Although Archaic Greek texts like the Iliad refer to Greek heroes such as Achilles and Menelaus as red-headed less than 1 of the Mediterranean population carry the red-haired gene-despite the descent of some Italians from a portion of the steppe migrants who crossed the Alps in. Red hair alone occurs with a. Gray eyes are also pretty isolated.
But like red hair blue eye colour is a recessive trait meaning that both parents must carry the. The myth about rare blue eyes in redheads is based on the theory that brown eyes are dominant but it doesnt apply to us. Blue eye colour is a recessive trait which means both parents must carry the gene for the child to be born with it.
Sometimes however the genetic stars align and individuals are born with the rare. But believe it or not that wasnt always the case. The reason why this combination is so rare is because red hair and blue eyes are both recessive genes.
The majority of natural redheads have brown eyes with others likely to have hazel or green shades. The Classical suspicion of redheads probably derived from the fact red hair was so rare in the Mediterranean regions. The combination of having both red hair colour and blue eyes is extremely rare.