The color of your eyes is determined by the genes you inherit from your parents. A gene for brown eyes is dominant. This means it over-rides genes for other eye colors. The gene for blue eyes is recessive. It shows up only when there are no genes for other eye colors. Someone with brown eyes may have a recessive, or "hidden," gene for blue eyes. Therefore, two brown-eyed parents may each give a recessive gene for blue eyes to their child, who would then have blue eyes. However, you can't necessarily tell a baby's eye color at birth. Often, babies are born with blue eyes, which darken in the first few months of life. Gray, green and other eye colors result from a complex mixing of different eye color genes. To see more details, visit www.uic.edu
