• Question: when new born babies are born why do their eyes change colour?

    Asked by olive to Mako on 25 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Tat Ming Mako Ng

      Tat Ming Mako Ng answered on 25 Jun 2015:

      This is actually a good question for me because African-American, and Asian babies are almost always born with dark eyes that stay dark, while Caucassian (or White) babies are usually born with dark blue or slate-gray eyes that may change several times before their first birthday!

      The answer to your question:
      It is a colour cell called melanin that causes the change of eye colour. The melanin don’t change colour until you have light, so it will take a few months for the melanin to change colour after the baby is born. If a baby has just a tiny amount of melanin, they will have blue eyes, add some more you get green, gray or hazel, even more and the baby’s eyes will be brown or even black.

      You have melanin on your skin to protect you from sunburn too. If you see people looking tan after going to the beach it is caused by melanin!

      Your hair colour (if you don’t dye it :P) is also caused by melanin.

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