The Tribe with the Rarest Electric Blue Eyes in the World | Jax Hudur | NewsBreak Original

Tribe with the rarest electric blue eyes

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Although blue eyes and blond hair are typical traits of people with European ancestry, the people of the Indonesian Island of Buton have the rarest electric blue eyes in the world. This is because the Islanders have Waardenburg Syndrome, caused by a rare genetic mutation. The condition affects 1 in 42000 people worldwide, making the Buton tribe unique.

Indonesia is a vast archipelago consisting of 17000 islands. Located in the Southeast Sulawesi region, Buton is the 19th largest Island in Indonesia and the 129th largest Island in the world. Besides its size, the Island has a population of about 450,000 that consists of many smaller isolated tribes that contribute to Indonesia’s expansive 350 dialects and subcultures.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, blue eyes lack blue pigment. In addition, blue eyes get their color the same way water and the sky get their blue color. As a result, light is scattered, and more blue light is reflected, which makes the eyes appear blue.

Nevertheless, while this is a general scientific explanation of why some people have blue eyes, scientists believe a gene mutation that occurred 6000 -10,000 years ago in one of the early European ancestors is the culprit who has been passing the gene responsible for the blue eyes.

Similar to the gene mutation that affected the European ancestor responsible for the caucasian blue eyes, the indigenous tribe of Buton’s Waardenburg syndrome is also caused by a genetic mutation that can cause pigmentation or coloring in hair, skin, and eyes. Though rare, the condition can also cause hearing loss.

While there is a credible scientific explanation regarding their beautiful blue eyes, the tribe’s condition is another reason why many of the differences we impose on ourselves in our social world are caused by forms of genetic mutation or adaptation according to the environment. For instance, gene mutations due to human migration out of Africa 30,000 years before the divergence of European and Asian lineages are why, according to scientists, people have white skin, which makes you think how underneath all, we are all one.