OCA2 Gene

The OCA2 Gene region includes the OCA2 gene and the adjacent HERC2 gene. Both genes can affect the production of pigmentation, especially in the eyes. They are a major influence on whether eye color is dark or light.

Alleles

People normally have two alleles per gene, one inherited from their mother and one inherited from their father.

Light (European)

This allele originates from an ancient European mutation that occurred thousands of years ago.

Other (European)

This allele originates from an ancient European mutation that occurred thousands of years ago.

Dark (Global)

This allele has been widespread globally for tens of thousands of years.

Allele Pairs

It is the combination of a person's pair of gene alleles that influences traits.

Predictable Light Eye Color
Allele Pair People with this allele pair normally have light eyes, typically blue or green.
No Prediction Eye Color
Allele Pair It has not yet been determined what influence these allele pairs have on eye color, due to lack of data on the "Other" allele type.
Predictable Dark Eye Color
Allele Pair People with these allele pairs normally have dark eyes, typically brown.

Gene Details

The OCA2 gene is located on chromosome 15 and encodes the protein named "P protein", which influences the reported traits.

The adjacent HERC2 gene regulates how much protein is produced by OCA2.

Additional References OCA2 HERC2
Genetics Home Reference by the U.S. National Library of Medicine OCA2
Wikipedia OCA2 HERC2
SNPedia OCA2 HERC2
UniProt Q04671
U.S. National Center for Biotechnology Information 4948 8924

PubMed articles

Allele Definitions

[0] [1]
Light
T
A
G
C
Dark
C
G
A
T
Other
C
G
G
C
Show Minus Strand
+
-
+
-
Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs)
[0] rs1129038 dbSNP SNPedia
[1] rs12913832 dbSNP SNPedia