I just learned I can have blond blue/green eyed babies. @_@

[Pika...]

So just minutes ago at the age of 23 I just learned the male organ I rode in on's family is full of blond blue and green eyed people, some of which are pale apparently. This was a surprise for me, since I am pretty dark with black hair and dark drown eyes, and so is all my family except for my little brother who looks a bit Spaniard.

Anyway, I do not know much about genetics, but I am guessing this means I can have my fantasy children one day? :smallbiggrin:

[Zanaril]

Anyway, I do not know much about genetics, but I am guessing this means I can have my fantasy children one day? :smallbiggrin:

I think that would depend on the other parent, and whether or not you have those traits as recessive genes.

[Gullara]

Anyway, I do not know much about genetics, but I am guessing this means I can have my fantasy children one day? :smallbiggrin:

Potentially yes I believe you could.

[MCerberus]

I'm a various amalgamation of British nations, French/German borderfolk, and just a small bit of Genovese. It's sunburn central on my skin.

[Pika...]

I think that would depend on the other parent, and whether or not you have those traits as recessive genes.

So being born from that family does not mean I have the genes?!

[Gpope]

If either your father or mother has blond hair or blue/green eyes, then you'll be able to pass on those traits (although whether or not your children will actually have them depends on who you have children with.)

If you have siblings but not parents that have blond hair or blue/green eyes, then you may or may not be able to pass on those traits.

[The Vorpal Tribble]

Pfftt, my parents, nor my grandparents, nor their parents had blue eyes... yet my brother and youngest sister do. Three of us are also blonde, from a long line of dark brown hair.

I'm cherokee/welsh/german/cajun... so pretty much the workings for ALL makes and models are in there. My sister (pale as a ghost and freckled) is marrying a mexican fella (one of the darkest latinos ever) this spring, so their kids may be interesting.

[Green Bean]

So being born from that family does not mean I have the genes?!

If both of your parents are dark haired with dark eyes, then there's about a 33% chance that you don't have the genes for blonde hair or blue eyes. If you do have the correct genes, then the hair and eye colour of your eventual kids depends entirely on your spouse.

If your spouse has blonde hair and blue eyes, then there's about a 50% shot per trait. If the spouse has dark hair and brown eyes, then the chance is somewhere between 0% and 25%.

[Pika...]

If either your father or mother has blond hair or blue/green eyes, then you'll be able to pass on those traits (although whether or not your children will actually have them depends on who you have children with.)

If you have siblings but not parents that have blond hair or blue/green eyes, then you may or may not be able to pass on those traits.

Apparently the grandmother, her sisters, the aunts and one uncles, and maybe the grandfather from that "family" of mine hare blonds and with either green or blue eyes. The grandfather might have been brown hair, though, not sure.

The man who helped make me is not blond or such. Does that mean my dream is already over? :smallfrown:

[Pika...]

Pfftt, my parents, nor my grandparents, nor their parents had blue eyes... yet my brother and youngest sister do. Three of us are also blonde, from a long line of dark brown hair.

Reminds me of a song a teacher sang once:
"Your daddy's not your daddy but your daddy don't know!"


*kids*




I'm cherokee/welsh/german/cajun... so pretty much the workings for ALL makes and models are in there. My sister (pale as a ghost and freckled) is marrying a mexican fella (one of the darkest latinos ever) this spring, so their kids may be interesting.

My idea fantasy/girl/makeup. Lucky guy!

[Telonius]

Obligatory link (http://xkcd.com/634/).

[Kazimierz]

So... nobody here has ever heard of Mendel's Cross?

It works like this: blue and green eyes are both recessive as compared to dark eyes, and as such, your father's family is full of people with homogeneous recessive alleles for eye color (bb).
Dark eyes, as said above, are dominant. Therefore, people with dark eyes can have either heterogeneous dominant or homogeneous dominant genes for eye color (Bb or BB.)*

Whether or not you have a chance of producing a homogeneous recessive (light) colored child depends primarily on your own makeup - whether you're heterogeneous or homogeneous dominant, since you're obviously not recessive. So, you are either Bb or BB.

Now, if your mother was Bb, and so was your father, then you have a 67% chance of carrying Bb genes. Normally: 25% bb, 25% BB, and 50% Bb, except that you're obviously not bb, and we can rule that one out. If one was BB and one was Bb, then you have a 50% chance of Bb, and 50% BB.

If you carry the homogeneous dominant allele, BB, then you have no chance of producing light-eyed offspring. If you carry the heterogeneous dominant, and have a child with another heterogeneous dominant, you have a 25% chance of producing light-eyed offspring. If you carry heterogeneous and have a child with a homogeneous dominant, you have a 0% chance of producing light-eyed offspring. Finally, if you're heterogeneous dominant, and your partner has light-colored eyes (homogeneous recessive,) you have a 50% chance of producing light-eyed offspring.

Now assume that hair color works the same way for blond=recessive, rinse, and repeat.

*Using B and b just because. Maybe there's an official way to do it, I don't know. Works anyway.

[MCerberus]

The best way of demonstrating your chances is to do it with squares. You said you have a blond/blue eyes sibling but neither parents are. That means they're both carriers of the recessive gene. To make it simple these are Bb X Bb for both sets. You know you aren't double recessive, so there are 3 squares for each trait you can fall under. 2 of these carry to recessive gene. 1 does not. It's been a while since bio but I don't think hair and eye color are on the same chromosome, so you've got a 2/3 chance of each trait to carry it.

Bottom line:
You have an 11% of not carrying either
You have a 44% chance of carrying both
You have a 44% chance of carrying 1 trait but not both.

[Pika...]

If both of your parents are dark haired with dark eyes, then there's about a 33% chance that you don't have the genes for blonde hair or blue eyes.

Oops, forgot to ask.

Is it a 33% chance for each, or as a pair?

Would I basically get a 66% chance for each trait on their own, or for both as a pair? And would the prior mean I am likely to get at least one? :smallfrown:


Also, is there any kind of test out there that can tell me if I carry either of the three genes?

The third gene being green eyes.


ps. Can you please tell me how my odds work for green eyes by the way?

pss. Many thanks for the info Green Bean!

It is worrying the hell out of me what I ended up rolling, but at least now I know I have a chance

[Dr. Bath]

Uh, it's actually a bit more complex than just dominant and recessive for eyes (and I think hair too) hence all the different shades. I don't fully understand it, but considering your parents and grandparent all didn't have blue eyes and blonde hair, the chances are pretty low that you'll have some recessive genes for either, let alone both. And it depends just as much on your partner as it does on your own genetic makeup. (picking a partner on what hair and eye colour genes they can pass on is really weird, please don't do this)

Green eyes are a specific mix of mostly blue and some other gene types if I recall. So it sounds like almost nil for you with all the dark hair and eyes.

[Green Bean]

Oops, forgot to ask.

Is it a 33% chance for each, or as a pair?

Would I basically get a 66% chance for each trait on their own, or for both as a pair? And would the prior mean I am likely to get at least one? :smallfrown:

Hair and eye colour are separate traits. Ah, I had started to write up a breakdown of the numbers, but MCerberus beat me to it. :smallbiggrin: Anyway, those numbers merely tell you your likelihood of being a carrier of the right genes. You still need to pass them onto your kids, and the odds vary depending on the traits of your future spouse.

Also, these number are simplifications. Eyes aren't just brown and blue, and hair isn't just brown and blonde. Genes combine in complicated ways. The bottom line answer is: maybe. You can't be completely sure until you start having kids, though having kids with someone who has the traits you want would improve your odds.


Also, is there any kind of test out there that can tell me if I carry either of the three genes?

The third gene being green eyes.

ps. Can you please tell me how my odds work for green eyes by the way?

pss. Many thanks for the info Green Bean!

It is worrying the hell out of me what I ended up rolling, but at least now I know I have a chance

I'm not sure if you can get a genetic test for eye colour, but you may be able to find a mail order kit on the internet somewhere like they do for ancestry tests.

[Pika...]

The best way of demonstrating your chances is to do it with squares. You said you have a blond/blue eyes sibling but neither parents are. That means they're both carriers of the recessive gene. To make it simple these are Bb X Bb for both sets. You know you aren't double recessive, so there are 3 squares for each trait you can fall under. 2 of these carry to recessive gene. 1 does not. It's been a while since bio but I don't think hair and eye color are on the same chromosome, so you've got a 2/3 chance of each trait to carry it.

Bottom line:
You have an 11% of not carrying either
You have a 44% chance of carrying both
You have a 44% chance of carrying 1 trait but not both.

Oops. Sorry.

I meant that my brother was fairer, as in lighter skin and and hair. He still has brown eyes and hair. If he hadn't I would have known this information al long time ago. LoL.

However., he did have that seasonal hair thing where it got light and darker during the year when he was a kid, but that is no longer the case.

[Adlan]

Genetics for Eye Colour and Hair Colour are not carried by single genes in humans, and so the above biological maths is a simplified version (that said, nice of those guys to put the work in, and it'll do as a good aproximation).

I'm a Blackhaird/Green&Brown eyed Bloke whose parents are both browneyed, with a copper/blue eyed little brother, a Blond Aunt, and a Little sister with very pale skin, while I tan quite deep (All come by Honestly, Jewish, Mongol, Briton, Angle and Viking all mixed in produces some interesting genetics).

Yes, your 'dream' child combination is possible. You can make it more likely by marrying someone with your desired combinations. Ideally ensure their entire familey has the combination desired (eg: if blond hair, Both Parents Blond as well). However, even someone who dosn't match your ideal, could produce your desired combination due to the recessive and combinative effects of genes.

Gene's don't really code for Blonde Hair, or Blue Eye's. They code for proteins, the way these Proteins interact with each other is what produces the effect (phenotype), so you could have two blonde people having kids and produce a raven haired baby (despite the fact that dark hair is considered dominant), due to the complex interplay of genes.

[Lioness]

I've got blonde hair and green eyes...you could just adopt me ^_^

[Prime32]

Then there's the possibility of a mutation in one of the genes introducing a trait out of nowhere. :smalltongue:

The TVTropes page (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LegoGenetics) puts it well:

A useful analogy is to think of DNA as a recipe for a cake as opposed to a blueprint for a house. There is not necessarily a one-to-one correspondence between fragments of DNA and organs of an animal. This leads to three main conclusions:

a) Timing is crucial: Adding bits of DNA to a fully grown organism will have unpredictable results. It's like adding flour to a cake after it has been baked. It's not quite the same as adding it before putting the cake in the oven.

b) The meaning of a gene depends on how it interacts with other genes: Sticking to the analogy here, if you take the "preheat oven" gene from the cake DNA and insert it into the salad DNA it will be useless because the salad DNA doesn't even have genes like "put the salad in the oven". The salad will be unaffected. If you then decide to add "put the salad in the oven" you will simply burn the salad. You can't just give the salad cake properties by taking instructions from the cake recipe and inserting them into the salad recipe (rare exceptions exist).

c) The actual expression of genes will be influenced by other factors in the environment. Just as the results of a cake recipe may vary due to things like humidity, temperature, and altitude, there's evidence that the results of a DNA "recipe" will vary due to outside influences. Cloned animals often display striking superficial differences from their genetic progenitors because an environment which favors the expression of different genes can coax different results from the same DNA. Apparently, identical twins only are identical because they shared roughly the same DNA and the same prenatal environment.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I've got blonde hair and green eyes...you could just adopt me ^_^

>.>

<.<

*adopts* ^_^

[Crimmy]

I think that would depend on the other parent, and whether or not you have those traits as recessive genes.

Uhh...
Those traits are not "sometimes" recessive. They're always recessive.
But if you have a kid with another recessive gene girl, possibilities are that most your children will have green/blue eyes.

[Deth Muncher]

Sounds like you need to whip out the ol' Punett Square when you find someone to mate with. :D

[Syka]

My dad had blue eyes, but I inherieted my mom's hazel. My boyfriend has very, very blue eyes.

My mom is totally stoked about the possibility of us having blue eyed lovelies. It's doubtful the kid would end up blonde, though. Oz is blonde, but it's really dark and his immediate line (mom and dad) both naturally have dark hair, although his cousins are all pretty blone. As far as I know, blonde hasn't occured in any of my family except my half sister from my mom and (maybe) my paternal aunt. So it's possible but doubtful.

I think dark hair and light eyes are the coolest thing though, so if we get a dark haired baby (assuming children are to be had) with blue or hazel eyes, I'll be totally stoked (I love love love my eyes...they change color depending on my mood!).

Hey, if you hope hard enough maybe it'll happen. :smallwink:

[Deth Muncher]

I think dark hair and light eyes are the coolest thing though, so if we get a dark haired baby (assuming children are to be had) with blue or hazel eyes, I'll be totally stoked (I love love love my eyes...they change color depending on my mood!).

Hey, if you hope hard enough maybe it'll happen. :smallwink:

Actually, my mom was like that: Dark brown hair, blue eyes. I ended up getting my dad's brown eyes, and both my parents had brown hair. Admittedly, mine is more like my mother's - almost black. But eh, who's checking hair tone?

[Pika...]

Genetics for Eye Colour and Hair Colour are not carried by single genes in humans, and so the above biological maths is a simplified version (that said, nice of those guys to put the work in, and it'll do as a good aproximation).

I'm a Blackhaird/Green&Brown eyed Bloke whose parents are both browneyed, with a copper/blue eyed little brother, a Blond Aunt, and a Little sister with very pale skin, while I tan quite deep (All come by Honestly, Jewish, Mongol, Briton, Angle and Viking all mixed in produces some interesting genetics).

Yes, your 'dream' child combination is possible. You can make it more likely by marrying someone with your desired combinations. Ideally ensure their entire familey has the combination desired (eg: if blond hair, Both Parents Blond as well). However, even someone who dosn't match your ideal, could produce your desired combination due to the recessive and combinative effects of genes.

Gene's don't really code for Blonde Hair, or Blue Eye's. They code for proteins, the way these Proteins interact with each other is what produces the effect (phenotype), so you could have two blonde people having kids and produce a raven haired baby (despite the fact that dark hair is considered dominant), due to the complex interplay of genes.

I am getting a bit confused, since different people in this thread eem to be saying different things? I am not someone good at biology or science in general, so I am a bit confused. I apprecaite the help, though!




I've got blonde hair and green eyes...you could just adopt me ^_^

Aren't you over 18? If so, it would be kinda strange for a 23 year old to be pushing around a 19 year old in a stroller. Although when I do adopt the one child I plan to perhaps I can get a blond instead of the Chinese one I was planning. Then the name Serenity would be perfect!


However, I could offer an engagement ring in exchange for your superior genes. :smallbiggrin:

[tyckspoon]

I am getting a bit confused, since different people in this thread eem to be saying different things? I am not someone good at biology or science in general, so I am a bit confused. I apprecaite the help, though!


Short version: Human eye and hair colors are really complex things and cannot be effectively controlled in your hypothetical offspring. You can try to play the odds, that's all, and coming from a family line which has shown the desired traits means your kids have a chance to do it too. But..since eyes are really kind of weird, *not* coming from a family with a history of the desired traits would still mean your kids had a chance of being the first ones to have them.

[Deth Muncher]

However, I could offer an engagement ring in exchange for your superior genes. :smallbiggrin:

Ah, eugenics, how I love you.

[Pika...]

Oh, and responding to the choosing a mate just for desired traits question a few asked. I already know I will not marry within my race. It just would not work. Plus, since I was young I have always been highly attracted to the pale, freckled, redhead, blond, blue eyed, and green eyed types of girls, so I am thinking that means I am likely to (hopefully) end up with someone who matches my tastes.

I just always felt bombed since I believed I could not produce such children with them, and that I'd be wasting her beauty's potential with my genes. But now I know I have a (small?) chance of having those genes lying around somewhere, so I might get lucky!

[Pika...]

Ah, eugenics, how I love you.

I had to wikipedia that one.

For you:
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/Kirie88/smiley/cookies.gif

[Deth Muncher]

I had to wikipedia that one.

For you:
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/Kirie88/smiley/cookies.gif

Freaking sweet! I don't think I've ever been given a cookie before. Maybe I should come to FB more often.

[Pika...]

Oh, and responding to the choosing a mate just for desired traits question a few asked. I already know I will not marry within my race. It just would not work. Plus, since I was young I have always been highly attracted to the pale, freckled, redhead, blond, blue eyed, and green eyed types of girls, so I am thinking that means I am likely to (hopefully) end up with someone who matches my tastes.

I just always felt bombed since I believed I could not produce such children with them, and that I'd be wasting her beauty's potential with my genes. But now I know I have a (small?) chance of having those genes lying around somewhere, so I might get lucky!


Oh, and I forgot to mention that I am still keeping the surrogate option open as a backup in case I am about to hit 30 and still do not have a bride/child.

In this case I guess I would be literally shopping around for the genetic traits I like? Could I even ask to know what her parents and extended family looks like?!




Freaking sweet! I don't think I've ever been given a cookie before. Maybe I should come to FB more often.

That would be nice. :smallsmile:

[Kazimierz]

I am getting a bit confused, since different people in this thread eem to be saying different things? I am not someone good at biology or science in general, so I am a bit confused. I apprecaite the help, though!

Basically, what Adlan said is correct. And one of the things that Adlan said, whas that previous posts had not been technically correct, but as broad simplifications were close enough to function for the purpose of this thread anyway.

[Quincunx]

Selecting for desired traits in the offspring overtly is accepted in the case of donors (egg or sperm) but frowned upon in relationships. Remember, you're entering a culture where the husband-and-wife relationship bears as much, if not more, significance than the parent-child one; marrying or not marrying solely for the purpose of mating is not accepted. That, and if you don't marry a woman but a mother, a significant proportion of women will come to their senses and throw you out. (It may take some years for her to reach breaking strain, and maybe you can think "well, I don't need her any more" after your children are born, but self-esteem can blossom at the unlikeliest of times.)

[Coidzor]

I'm going to just have to come out and say that blonde-eyed, blue-haired babies are probably not the best decision. That's just going to make people think of anime and wolves at the same time but in completely different directions until someone mentions a werewolf anime and then...

Well, it just gets a tad messy.

[Rettu Skcollob]

http://i49.tinypic.com/33vlw28.png

[Deth Muncher]

http://i49.tinypic.com/33vlw28.png

Thank you. I was actually referencing that in my first post in this thread, but was too lazy to look it up. I award you half of the cookie Pika... gave me.

[Lioness]

Aren't you over 18? If so, it would be kinda strange for a 23 year old to be pushing around a 19 year old in a stroller. Although when I do adopt the one child I plan to perhaps I can get a blond instead of the Chinese one I was planning. Then the name Serenity would be perfect!


Nope. I'm 16.

[Pika...]

Selecting for desired traits in the offspring overtly is accepted in the case of donors (egg or sperm) but frowned upon in relationships. Remember, you're entering a culture where the husband-and-wife relationship bears as much, if not more, significance than the parent-child one; marrying or not marrying solely for the purpose of mating is not accepted. That, and if you don't marry a woman but a mother, a significant proportion of women will come to their senses and throw you out. (It may take some years for her to reach breaking strain, and maybe you can think "well, I don't need her any more" after your children are born, but self-esteem can blossom at the unlikeliest of times.)

Well, I am not that bad. I care about love and such.

It is just that I have always been attracted to fair Caucasian women my entire life. Hence I am guessing I will probably end up with one. Not to mention I do not get along well with the Hispanic culture, so I am certain I will not be marrying within my race.

However, is it still bad if I do this if I need to select a surrogate? Or would that be acceptable?

[Pika...]

Nope. I'm 16.

Rats.

If I was a decade older I gladly would adopt a girl like you Lioness. :smallsmile:



However, here I am allowed to date 16-18 year olds up until I am age 24, so the offer for your genes is always there! The weather is nice over here in Florida, and soon I will have a teacher's salary to blow on a special lady (one day. one da...)!