Every blue eyed person on Earth is a descendant of one single person, scientists find

If you’re one of the few among us who has two big blue balls rolling about in your head, you really are quite special.

No, I’m not talking about the fact you have a piercing stare that can bore into someone’s soul, or that you always stand out in a crowd, it’s something much more profound.

I know it might seem hard to believe, but according to actual science, everyone who has blue eyes is a descendant of one single human.

And if you remember your school days, you’ll know that blue eyes are actually recessive, with between eight and 10 percent of the world born with them.

So what’s the craic with this long lost ancestor then?

Well, we need to look at a study which revealed how the genetic mutation came from a singular human who lived between 6,000 and 10,000 years ago.

For years, teams of researchers have been working to uncover the truth behind this mysterious shift, examining the OCA2 gene, which determines the level of brown pigment in the human eye, for many years.

But it turns out that the genetic mutation causing people to develop blue eyes is actually from an entirely different gene, called HERC2.

This clever accident of nature completely switches off the OCA2, thus turning brown into blue.

And how do they know that it all links back to a common ancestor? Well, because every single blue-eyed person has the exact same mutation.

While there’s still plenty of research going on into the topic, the general consensus is the mutation most likely spread when humans migrated from Africa to Europe, which would go some way to explaining why mainly people of European descent seemingly have blue eyes.

The discovery was made over a decade ago, in 2008, when scientists at the University of Copenhagen initially tracked down the mutation.

The author of the study, Professor Hans Eiberg from the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, told Science Daily: “Meanwhile, people who have green eyes can be explained by the fact they have a reduced amount of melanin in the iris, which is very different to those with blue eyes.

“From this, we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor.

“They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.”

Even more shocking than the fact the blue-eyed bunch all share the same relative is that their eyes aren’t really blue at all.

Blue eyes actually don’t have any pigment at all in this front layer, instead the fibres scatter and absorb some of the longer wavelengths of light coming in, making them appear blue.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image

Topics: Science, World News, History