blue eyed humans have a single common ancestor

In an article from Science Daily, a study shows that people with blue eyes all share one common ancestor. 6-10,000 years ago a genetic mutation took place which is the cause of the eye color of all blue eyed human beings alive on the planet today. Variation in eye color from brown to green comes from the amount of melanin in the iris. People with blue eyes only have a small variation in the amount of melanin in their iris. Which has drawn scientists to conclude that they all come from the same ancestor. Originally we all had brown eyes, but a mutation in the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in a switch which turned off the ability to produce melanin in the eyes.

 However, the mutation only affected the ability for the body to produce melanin in the eyes without affecting a gene adjacent to it which would have affected the body’s ability to produce melanin at all resulting in albinism. This mutation however has neither positive nor negative effects on the body and is a perfect example of nature trying new things.