Science

low copy dna

can you tell the colour of a persons eyes through their dna?

Katoninelive Wed 03/09/08 14:55

<< Previous

Next >>

Subscribe to question

Post an Answer

theprof
Thurs 04/09/08
00:30

Not with 100% accuracy. Gene technology at the moment can classify someone into one of three eye-colour groups - light (blue and grey), dark (black and brown), or hazel. The accuracy is around 97% but sometimes other factors are involved which seriously hinder accurate analysis.

Katoninelive
Thurs 04/09/08
07:01

Question Author

thankyou theprof. so if you have blue eyes this would be reconised?

theprof
Fri 05/09/08
00:04

Not quite Katoninelive. You could only say for certain that the eyes would be blue, grey or shades in between.
You could exclude black, brown, hazel and their variants with a reasonable amount of certainty.
However, there are circumstances in which this type of DNA analysis is inconclusive so for forensic purposes, you still couldn't be 100% positive as to the eye colour or shade. This is the reason why eye colour is of little value in forensic science.

Post an Answer

Submit the above question and answers

add to del.icio.us	add to digg	add to furl
add to reddit	add to Technorati	add to Blinklist
add to StumbleUpon	add to squidoo	add to ma.gnolia
add to Cocomment	add to Netscape	add to Fark