Can brown eyes and hazel produce green eyes?

Yes, brown eyes and hazel eyes can produce green eyes through genetic inheritance. Here's an explanation of how this is possible:

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.