After extensive testing and research, geneticists have discovered the origin of blue eyes. Apparently blue eyes come from a mutation that occurred in Europe as many as 10,000 years ago. As report coauthor Jesper Troelsen stated, " There was one founder mutation that gave rise to all the people in Europe who have blue eyes.” By testing about 800 different people from Denmark, Turkey, and Jordan, geneticists determined the single base-pair change in the human genome that showed up in all the blue-eyed people and none of the brown-eyed people. Because the stretch of DNA was so similar and barely shuffled, they inferred that it was a relatively new mutation.
This discovery was an example of discovery-based science, not hypothesis-based science, because the scientist discovered the mutation through experimentation and analysis.
This discovery is important because because it gives us new found insight into the origins of race and genetic traits found commonly in human today.
Citation:
Rice, Jocelyn. "Geneticists Uncover the Origin of Blue Eyes." 14 Dec. 2008. Web
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