For millennia, the blue color of the eyes has been adored and idolized. It quickly became the standard of beauty and a symbol of holiness. Today, blue-eyed people are taken for granted, as we see them everywhere. But did you know that at one point in the past, there was no blue eye color at all? For thousands of years, primitive people looked at the world exclusively with brown eyes, and then one day – POOF – a blue-eyed baby was born!
Here are some unbelievable reasons why blue-eyed humans are unique.
1. Genetic Mutation
The blue color of the eyes is the result of a genetic mutation that happened about six to ten thousand years ago, according to various sources. Believe it or not, all you people with baby-blues are the descendants of one single person who first had this mutation in the OCA2 gene, which disrupted the production of melanin in the iris.
The modern blue-eyed people have the same genetic mutation in the same place of their DNA, which is clear evidence of having one single common ancestor that was most likely born somewhere in the northwestern part of the Black Sea region (Ukraine, Moldova, Romania) during the Neolithic era.
2. How did this mutation survive?
The scientists are still perplexed about the fact of how this mutation tricked the basic principles of evolution and began to spread throughout the globe. First of all, a mutation must give the species some advantage to survive the natural selection process. The funny thing about blue eyes is that this mutation does not provide any particular benefits, and can be quite harmful.
The cornea is much more sensitive to any mechanical stimuli when compared to brown-eyed and black-eyed people. Not to mention that the blue-eyed people are more susceptible to certain ocular diseases, which can lead to increased nervous excitability, migraines, and hypersensitivity issues.
3. Extraterrestrial intervention?
Yes, let’s talk aliens! For millions of years, people had dark eyes, and suddenly a blue-eyed child is born from ordinary, dark-eyed parents. Why did it take so much time? Why did the mutation manifest itself in this particular period of time? What could provoke its occurrence?
Could it have been a gift from the gods? Maybe thousands of years ago, humans were experimented on by some interstellar travelers? Of course, this is where science comes into conflict with mythology. The scientific evidence says that all of today’s blue-eyed people came from one ancestor, and according to myths, most of the ancient gods had blue eyes. Maybe the blue eyes are what we inherited from the “gods”? Perhaps it was a blue-eyed time traveler from the far future? Who knows!
