Naturally Puple Eyes

[M.D. Holloway]

Not sure any of you folks have ever met anyone with naturally purple eyes. Years ago I met a girl with purple eyes. Very pretty but exceptionally rare. Liz Taylor has purple (violet) eyes.






Here is something I found out...


From the Answer Bag:

There are children who are born with a medical condition that causes the whites of the eye to be purple. The condition is called Osteogenesis Imperfecta or OL.

I am in my final year of an Ophthalmology fellowship. After four years of med school, five years of residency and my fellowship I can definitively state that violet eyes do exist and are natural. They are exceptionally rare. The iris has essentially three layers. An outer thin layer, a middle spongy layer, and a thin backing layer. Any and all of these layers can have varying degrees of melanin in them. The middle spongy layer also contains proteins that can be yellowish. The more melanin=more brown. Less melanin=bluer. Yellow proteins+blue=green. Yellow proteins+brown=amber. Hazel eyes are caused by any mix you can think of. This is an oversimplified explanation, but correct. Violet eyes are a kissing cousin of grey eyes (which also appear different colors based on the surrounding conditions). Grey eyes only have a small amount of melanin and it's only in the backmost iris layer and have no yellow protein. Violet eyes have almost no melanin and the purple color is caused by the blood vessels in the retina showing through. Red+Blue=Purple. Any less melanin and one would have pink albino eyes.

Purple Eyes and Other Interesting Anomalies

If you have read any of the statistics of my Daria-based fan fiction characters or any of my stories about those characters, you will have noticed that three of my characters (Raven, Rebecca, and Zia) have deep purple eyes. It's not because they wear contacts in order to hide their real eye colors. It's because of a genetic mutation called "Alexandria's Genesis."

The Origins of the "Genesis"

"Alexandria's Genesis," as it has been called since the 1960s, is a genetic mutation generally found in women of Euro-American (a.k.a., Caucasian) descent. This mutation can be traced as far as the Middle Ages in Northern Europe. The first known record of "Alexandria's Genesis" was written in the year CE 1330 (Common Era).

A woman named Alexandria Augustine came into the world on April 29, CE 1329 in London, England. At the time, she appeared to be normal, but her parents soon noticed that her eyes were changing from the blue eyes Alexandria had at birth to the purple eyes she would have by her first birthday. The parents were startled by this dramatic change. They took her to their priest, thinking that a witch did this to their child, and that the priest might be able to ask God to change the eye color back. The priest told the parents that it was not the work of the devil, but a myth come true. This particular priest had heard a story about a race of people who had purple eyes. These humans were thought to have come from Egypt after a mysterious light flashed in the sky during a moonless night thousands of years ago. The purple-eyed humans also had very fair skin, and were thought to be spirits because of their appearance. The so-called "spirit people" eventually went north and vanished without a trace. The priest told her parents not to worry, for they had a special child in their hands and they should take good care of her.

Eventually, Alexandria grew up to be a very beautiful woman, got married, had four children (all four were girls, and all four also had the mutation), never got sick, and died at the age of 150 of natural causes. It is this discovery that helped to name the genetic mutation when the gene was discovered in 1968.

The Characteristics of "Alexandria's Genesis"

The first characteristic of people with "Alexandria's Genesis" is their eye color. When someone is born with this genetic mutation, the eyes are either blue or gray at birth. At six months, the eyes begin their transformation from the original color to purple. This process is completed by the person's first birthday. A second process, where the eye color deepens, starts as soon as the first is completed. This slow process continues until the onset of puberty. By then, the eye will have become a dark purple, a deep purple, a royal purple, or a violet-blue color, and will be that color for the rest of their time. These changes do not affect the person's eyesight, though. If anything, the eyesight is, and remains until death, 20/20.

Speaking of puberty, those who have the mutation will never grow any facial, body, pubic, or anal hair during this stage of growth. In fact, the only hair they will ever have is what is on their heads, in their ears and nose, their eyebrows, and their eyelashes. Women also have an added bonus beyond never having to shave: never buying tampons or pads. It turns out that females born with "Alexandria's Genesis" never menstruate in their lives. They are fertile, however, and can go through the same things that women without the mutation can go through every month. Beyond these differences, those with the mutation go through puberty as normally as everyone else does.

Below are all of the characteristics of "Alexandria's Genesis."

Clear, silver-like purple eyes (after 1st birthday; deepen in color until onset of puberty)

No facial or body hair growth beyond what was already there at birth

Dark brown or black hair

Shimmering white skin that resist tanning and burning

Lack of menstruation cycle (in women)

Highly evolved immune system (has been known to resist every disease known to man so far)

Appear 5-20 years younger (after the age of 21, the aging process slows down greatly; it stops completely between the ages of 40-50)

Long life span (ranges from 130-170 years)

Perfect vision

Never overweight (their metabolism prevents the gaining of too much fat [a.k.a., partial lipodystophy])

Well-developed and proportioned bodies

Found mainly in women of Euro-American descent

Women are the primary carriers of the mutation

Children born from mothers with the mutation are also carriers

Mutation remains active generation after generation

Mutation grows stronger generation after generation

Interracial Children of the "Genesis"

An interesting aspect of this mutation is that if it passed on to a child whose mother or father is not of Euro-American descent, the child will receive all of the qualities of those who have the gene. The only quality that changes is the skin color; it is lighter than those without the gene are, but it is not as light as the parent with the mutation is. So far, this gene has shown up in children whose mother or father was Hispanic, Asian, or Arabic. If these children were to marry someone within their own race, their offspring would also develop the same characteristics. The most startling aspect of the biracial "Genesis" children is that they take on a more Euro-American appearance. Not much more is known about these children beyond these initial findings.

Another Interesting Development

In ten percent of the population that has "Alexandria's Genesis," there is another characteristic of this mutation that is increasing on a yearly basis: the processing of human waste… or lack thereof.

As it turns out, in some of these people, the mutation is actually causing the digestive system to produce no waste. No one has found out how this is possible, but most scientists have a theory that may explain this increasing phenomenon.

The digestion process goes through its normal procedure until the digested product enters the large intestine. It is there, scientists suggest, that the large intestine absorbs everything and uses the product to keep the body in top shape. This makes the bladder completely useless, and leaves the small intestine and rectum as just an opening. It is not much of a theory, since very little is still known about "Alexandria's Genesis."

Conclusion

There are questions about this genetic mutation that remain unanswered. The biggest question left unanswered is where "Alexandria's Genesis" actually first appeared. Many researchers are looking into the myth of the "spirit people" of Egypt in order to find out if this mutation really did exist several thousands of years ago. If that is indeed the case, the next question to be answered is if this mutation is of Earth origin… or of a different place.

This is a cool 'story' but completely fictional. While purple eyes are very rare, they are due to a genetic malfunction not the indication of an uber-human.

[Hugh R]

Everyone with blue eyes comes from the same ancestor about 10,000 years ago, it was a genetic mutation.

[Rick V]

You calling me a mutant?

[Hugh R]

I posted about my B-Day on another thread and that I'm a triplet. My two sisters were born with brown eyes and brown hair. I was born with blue eyes and blond hair, now I don't have hair and my eyes are mostly bloodshot.

[imcarthur]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

my eyes are mostly bloodshot.

Shhhh, Hugh. THEY might be reading this . . .

Ian (another blue-eyed mutant but I'm a Viking . . .)

[BeyGon]

Yeah, blue eyes here (England) but my wife has green eyes. She's a czech chick.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by imcarthur

(another blue-eyed mutant but i'm a viking . . .)

+1

[A930Rocket]

I've never seen or heard of purple eyes. Very strange.

I was the only one of four kids in our family to have blond hair and blue eyes. Both parents had brown eyes and brown hair.

My kids have blue eyes with one having blonde hair and the other brown. My wife has dark brown eyes, brown/black hair and olive skin. I thought for sure the kids would look more like her.

[dipso]

I'm hazel. Usually I see brown, but sometimes pale yellow, sometimes pale green. It is very strange.
Purple would be cool though.

[syncroid]

My wife has very interesting colored eyes. Not blue, not green, hazel, or brown, but a combination of all mixed in. I love her eyes!
I came from a family of seven. My parents and three of my sisters all have dark brown eyes. (mine the darkest) My fourth sister has bright blue eyes and blonde hair. Weird!
My daughter got my eyes. Shes my brown eyed girl.

[12own911]

Mutant here.

[Geronimo '74]

Mutant, and proud of it.
Glad I don't have purple eyes, looks too freaky.

[slodave]

Mine change between blue and green.

[Steve Carlton]

"You Nexus, huh? I design your eyes."

[968rz]

My family has Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bones); my brother, two sisters, dad, aunts - on and on. It really does make the whites of your eyes blueish (not the pupil) and when they drink they get even bluer; almost purple. Looks kind of odd but I can always tell when they're buzzed.

OL sucks, my Dad would to break ribs just by sneezing, my nephew broke his arm lifting weights (30# curls). No extreme sports for us.

[M.D. Holloway]

Rick,
Sorry to here about your families condition.

I guess someday when we perfect the whole gene thing most if not all these issues will be a thing of the past.

[M.D. Holloway]

The 'Alexandria's Genesis' would make a great SciFi book!

[arcsine]

Originally Posted by LubeMaster77

I guess someday when we perfect the whole gene thing most if not all these issues will be a thing of the past.

The problem is defining (regardless of who is making the choices, nature or us) what the the 'correct' genotype to have? Our understanding of just what genes do for us (what proteins they make and how do those proteins work/interact) lags far behind our identification of what the genes are.

[ChrisBennet]

I went to high school with a girl with green and blue eyes - one of each.

[emcon5]

Originally Posted by arcsine

The problem is defining (regardless of who is making the choices, nature or us) what the the 'correct' genotype to have?

This one.