at ANY TIME. And it definitely already changed once.

Greetings programs, Trace here for DNews. Many babies are born with blue eyes, and then

their eyes change color as their genes continue to develop. Hair color is the same way, sometimes,

babies are born with very light colored hair which gradually darkens. We got a few questions

on this, so we did the digging!

The colored part of the eye is the iris, it controls how much light is let into the eyeball

and it's color is determined by melanin, just like skin and hair. Darker colors absorb more

light, and lighter colors reflect more.

Eye color is determined by a few different genetic factors, the most important being

OCA2. OCA2 produced melanocytes, or melanin producing cells. Melanin is the protein that

creates skin, eye, and hair color. More melanin means darker eyes, hair, or skin. The COLOR

of the melanin in the eyes is determined by three OTHER[a] genes, EYCL1, 2 and 3. Together,

they account for brown/green/blue but not hazel or grey eyes, science is still working

on how we get those. All blue-eyed people can trace their ancestry back to a single

human born between 6 and 10,000 years ago. Due to a genetic mutation, a human was born

with a tiny switch right before the OCA2 gene, that limits the expression of the melanin,

kind of like diluting the stream of the protein. Individuals with albinism or Albinos have

the OCA2 gene completely shut off -- so their skin, eyes, and hair have no melanin at all!

With this in mind, let's apply it to babies. When we're born, our genetics are decided,

but the body hasn't necessarily acted on all the genes in your DNA. When it comes to eye

color, the melanin controlled by the OCA2 gene is diluted and thus we all have blue

eyes. For those with that blue-eye gene mutation they eyes stay blue. But for the vast majority

of us, once we're born the OCA2 gene kicks into gear, creating melanocytes to make proteins

and the eyes turn a different color, somewhere between 9 months and two years after birth.

A medium amount of the melanin makes eyes green or hazel, a large amount makes them

brown.

With regard to hair, the melanin builds up the same as in eyes, creating a dark color.

As babies age, their melanin levels increase and their hair will darken. Hair colors can

change well into puberty, as some genes aren't "switched on" until the hormones flood the

body in adolescence. Eventually, usually in the 30s, human hair stops producing melanin

and begins to turn grey. Basically, it stops adding color to the hair. Gray hair tends

to occur earlier in Caucasians and later in Asians.

It's important to point out, that not ALL babies are born with blue eyes. This mainly

occurs with Caucasian babies, maybe because of the lower levels of overall melanin due

to the lighter skin tone. Babies of Asian, African and Hispanic genetic heritages will

likely be born with dark eyes that stay dark.

Funnily enough, 10-15 percent of Caucasians report their eye color continued to change

into adulthood, so it's possible your peepers are still not settled!

What's your favorite eye color? What do you wish you had?

Tell us in the comments and make sure you subscribe to DNews for more science! We're

here twice a day, every day of the year. Do you have questions? Let us know on Twitter

@DNews or me @TraceDominguez. Thanks so much for watching!