If blue eyes are a recessive gene and green eyes are a dominant gene, why are there more people with blue eyes?

Question

If blue eyes are a recessive gene and green eyes are a dominant gene, why are there more people with blue eyes?

In: 151

Answer 1

First off, eye color in humans is not determined by a single gene. It’s much more complicated than that. But I can answer your question using an example of a human trait that *is* determined by a single gene: freckles.

The allele (gene variant) that codes freckles is actually dominant over the allele that does not. The reason that you see more people without freckles is very simple: the allele for freckles just isn’t that common in the population. Anyone who does h ave that allele will have freckles, but most people just don’t get that allele.