Pigment, lipochrome, eumelanin and eye colour

What is pigment?

Brown eye colour

Pigment is something we all find in the human eyes. The type and amount of pigmentation in the iris determines the colour. There are two types of pigment cells. The first type is called eumelanin and the second one is called pheomelanin (or lipochrome). When you have a lot of eumelanin pigment cells, chances are high you have brown eyes. When your stroma (iris) contains only a small amount of the eumelanin cells, chances are high you will have blue eyes.

The gray eye colour: blue eyes with a twist

Gray eye colour

The gray eye colour is a very unique one. We all know blue and brown eyes. Brown eyes are the most common of all colours known by human kind. Aprox. 90% of all humans have brown eyes. Of course, not all people have the same brown colour. Some eyes are more brown/yellow, other eyes are very dark, almost black.

Amber eye colour: twilight for real

Amber eye colour in humans

Have you ever heard of the amber eye colour? Do you know what it is? Only a small number of people know someone with these extremely special eye colour. Around the world, only less then 1% has the amber eye colour. Amber eyes may even be the rarest eye colour in the world!

Blue Eye Colour: sometimes unique

Blue eye colour in humans

The blue eye colour is a recessive trait in humans and is quite a unique thing in the world. In the US, only 1 out of 6 (some people think 1 out of 10!) have blue irises. In some other countries, especially those in Africa and Asia, the blue eye colour is almost non prevalent.

Green Eye Colour: a rare human eye colour

Rare green eyes in humans

There are a lot of different eye colours in humans but some are more rare than others. Just look around you and take a good look at peoples eye colour. There is a high chance you will notice a lot of people with brown eyes. Brown eyes are by far most common in humans. In some countries, the brown eye colour is the only colour there is.