Can brown eyes and hazel produce green eyes?
Eye color is determined by the amount and type of melanin in the iris, which is the colored part of the eye. Melanin comes in two forms: eumelanin (brown or black pigment) and pheomelanin (red or yellow pigment). The combination of these pigments in different amounts results in various eye colors.
Brown eyes typically have a high concentration of eumelanin, giving them a dark brown or chocolate color. Hazel eyes, on the other hand, have a combination of eumelanin and pheomelanin. This mixture creates a spectrum of colors that can range from light brown with flecks of yellow or green to more greenish-brown shades.
When a person with brown eyes (carrying the gene for eumelanin) and a person with hazel eyes (carrying genes for both eumelanin and pheomelanin) have a child, the inheritance of these genes plays a role in determining the child's eye color. It's possible for the child to inherit a higher concentration of pheomelanin from the hazel-eyed parent and a moderate amount of eumelanin from the brown-eyed parent. This combination can result in green eyes.
The inheritance of eye color is a complex process influenced by multiple genes, not just a single gene pair. Other genetic factors, as well as environmental factors, can also contribute to the specific shade of green or other eye colors observed in individuals.