As I received word of a new project dealing with evolution, and I'm often searching for new examples to help illustrate different aspects of the theory. It occurred to me I could use #Eyecolor to help explain part of genetics. So I photographed students in a recent workshop. Eyecolor is a polygenic trait, meaning this trait is controlled by multiple genes. The color of this beautiful #hazel eye, like all other eyes, is primarily controlled by the amount and type of a pigment called melanin. Specialized cells known as melanocytes produce the melanin, storing it in intracellular compartments known as melanosomes. The amount of light that reflects off the iris, a muscular structure that controls how much light enters the eye. The range in eye color, from blue to hazel to brown, depends on the level of melanin pigment stored in the melanosome “packets” in the melanocytes of the iris. Irises from green–hazel eyes show moderate pigment levels and melanosome number, while brown eyes are the result of high melanin levels stored across many melanosomes. @RobertClarkphoto @Thephotosociety @natgeo @instituteartist
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