• Question: Why don't we get purple irises?

    Asked by chivvy to Kat, Katie, Sadaf, Andrew on 21 Jun 2013. This question was also asked by wimpolel1.
    • Photo: Andrew Swale

      Andrew Swale answered on 21 Jun 2013:

      The colour of our eyes is genetically determined and therefore the genes available to us result in the eye colours we currently have today

      Interestingly – all babies are born with blue eyes which will eventually darken depending on their genes

      The only strange eye colour that exists is so called ‘red’ eyes which occur in albinos. However, there eyes are not actually red, they are clear due to a lack of pigmentation however they appear red due to light reflecting off the various blood vessels in the eye

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