If you have blue eyes, you are a member of an exclusive group. Infact,onlyabout 8-10 percent of the worldwide population is blue-eyed, with Estonia and Finland having the highest rate at89percent,and Sweden, Iceland, and Norway all having rates above 70%. While the United States has the largest total number of blueeyed people, their percentage of the total population is around 1617 percent. Of course, the lowest population percentage of blue-eyed people is found in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia.
While a quick search yields the late actor Paul Newman as the quintessential blue-eye bearer, no one seems to know when blue-eyed people were first mentioned in history.Homer’swritingofAthena’s blue eyes in the Iliad and the Odyssey around 750 BC is perhaps the oldest instance in existence. However, it has only recently been discovered that blue-eyed people have been among us for about 8,000 years. In a groundbreaking study, Dr. Hans Eiberg and his team at the University of Copenhagen traced the genetic mutation that causes blue eyes back to its origin, indicating that all people with blue eyes have a single, common ancestor. Dr. Eiberg explains, “Originally, we all had brown eyes, but a genetic mutation affecting the OCA2 gene in our chromosomes resulted in the creation of a ‘switch’ which literally ‘turns off’ the ability to produce brown eyes.” The OCA2 gene encodes a protein, P, that resides in melanocytes, the skin cells responsible for melanin production. Melanin itself, then, is responsible for the color-giving pigment in the eyes, skin, and hair, with brown eyes containing the most melanin and blue eyes the least. The ‘switch’ is not turned off completely within the OCA2 gene, or albinism, which is the complete absence of skin, eye, and hair color, would occur. Rather, the P protein is strongly regulated by the OCA2 gene, which causes blue eyes to be expressed. The exact mechanism is also responsible for eye color throughout the animal kingdom.
Among non-blue-eyed people, significant variation in eye color frombrowntogreencanbeexplained by the varying amount of melanin in the iris. Among blue-eyed people, however, the variation of melanin present is very small. This detail allowed Dr. Eiberg and the team to examine mitochondrial DNA from volunteersinJordan,Denmark,and Turkey to trace the OCA2 mutation backward, concluding that all blueeyed individuals descended from a common ancestor about 8,000 years ago. Eibers explains, “They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA,” whereas brown-eyed people show considerable variation in the switch location. The conclusion: all blue-eyed individuals share a single common ancestor.
Although Dr. Eiberg and his team’s work is a groundbreaking scientific discovery, it should come as no great surprise. In fact, and similarly, all brown-eyed people share a common ancestor as well! How else could it be? At some point in history, a brown-eyed viable male and a brown-eyed viable female came into being at the same time, in the same location, were relatively the same age, and had perfectly compatible DNA. Then they had to find each other to reproduce their kind. Darwinian evolution says the origin of the first reproductive human beings occurred over millions of years through random genetic mutations, producing a minimum initial population of 10,000 people. But I don’t believe that is true. How do 10,0000 human beings all of a sudden appear at once by random mutation? And yet scientists argue that the human population has never been lower than 10,000, never.Onthecontrary,DNAstudies generally suggest that all genomes trace back to a primordial first pair. Whether Y-chromosomal DNA studies in men or mitochondrial DNA studies in women, all lines of humandescentmergeatthegenetic bottleneck that occurred when all human beings died except for Noah and his family died in the Flood. AfterTheFlood,allhumangenomes were reduced to just eight people, five of whom were blood relatives. The same is observed in linguistic studies: all languages trace back to the bottleneck in the days of Noah, when the entire race was gathered together in one location and spoke one language. If one goes back far enough, before the great Flood, all humans merge into two: our first parents. Whether you have brown eyes, blue, or something in between, it all traces back to a common origin at Eden. So no, as a Christian, I am not in the least surprised that all blue-eyed people share a common blue-eyed ancestor. Nor that before that, all ancient people were browneyed. In fact, a single common ancestor is precisely what should be expected. And that only by the command of God, who decreed long ago,“Letusmakemaninourimage, after our likeness” (Gen 1:26).
Join us again next time as we continue to look at the evidence that so clearly presents itself in the world around us, evidence that bears directly upon the seminal question: Is God dead?
Gloria in excelsis Deo! Ty B. Kerley, DMin., is an ordained minister who teaches Christian apologetics, and relief preaches in Southern Oklahoma. Dr. Kerley and his wife Vicki are members of the Waurika church of Christ, and live in Ardmore. You can contact him at: dr.kerley@isGoddead.com.