rs12913832 — HERC2

The Blue Eye Mutation — How One Regulatory Variant Controls Human Iris Color

The color of your eyes is determined primarily by a single nucleotide change on chromosome 15, not in a pigmentation gene itself, but in a regulatory enhancer¹¹ regulatory enhancer
A DNA sequence that controls when and where genes are turned on located deep within intron 86 of the HERC2 gene. This variant, rs12913832, functions as a dimmer switch for the nearby OCA2 gene, which encodes a protein essential for melanin²² melanin
The pigment responsible for eye, skin, and hair color production in the iris. The ancestral A allele permits full OCA2 expression and results in brown eyes, while the derived G allele—which emerged 6,000-10,000 years ago in Europe³³ emerged 6,000-10,000 years ago in Europe
Likely selected during the agricultural transition when lighter pigmentation became advantageous in low-UV environments—reduces OCA2 transcription and produces blue eyes.

The Mechanism

This variant sits within a melanocyte-specific enhancer⁴⁴ melanocyte-specific enhancer
Active only in pigment-producing cells that physically contacts the OCA2 promoter via a long-range chromatin loop spanning 21 kilobases. When you carry the A allele, transcription factors including MITF, LEF1, and HLTF⁵⁵ MITF, LEF1, and HLTF
Master regulators of melanocyte development and function bind efficiently to the enhancer region, pulling it into close proximity with the OCA2 promoter through three-dimensional DNA folding. This chromatin looping⁶⁶ chromatin looping
Physical interaction between distant DNA regions brought together in 3D space dramatically increases OCA2 transcription, leading to robust melanin synthesis and darker eye colors ranging from brown to hazel. The G allele disrupts this process by reducing the binding efficiency of these transcription factors, weakening the chromatin loop formation and decreasing OCA2 expression by approximately 60-70%⁷⁷ 60-70%
Measured in melanocyte cell culture experiments comparing A vs G alleles. With less OCA2 protein available, melanosomes cannot maintain the optimal conditions for melanin production, resulting in the blue structural color that emerges when light scatters through a relatively pigment-free iris stroma⁸⁸ stroma
The fibrous middle layer of the iris.

The Evidence

The association between rs12913832 and eye color is among the strongest genotype-phenotype correlations⁹⁹ genotype-phenotype correlations
Statistical relationships between genetic variants and observable traits in human genetics. A 2008 Danish family study¹⁰¹⁰ A 2008 Danish family study
Eiberg et al. Blue eye color in humans may be caused by a perfectly associated founder mutation in a regulatory element located within the HERC2 gene inhibiting OCA2 expression. Human Genetics, 2008 identified rs12913832 as perfectly associated with blue versus brown eye color across multiple pedigrees, with the GG genotype predicting blue eyes in 99% of cases among Europeans. Visser et al. 2012¹¹¹¹ Visser et al. 2012
HERC2 rs12913832 modulates human pigmentation by attenuating chromatin-loop formation between a long-range enhancer and the OCA2 promoter. Genome Research, 2012 used chromosome conformation capture (3C) technology to directly demonstrate that the G allele weakens the physical interaction between the HERC2 enhancer and OCA2 promoter in melanocytes. This single SNP explains approximately 74% of eye color variance¹²¹² 74% of eye color variance
The proportion of blue-brown eye color differences attributable to this variant in European populations, far exceeding the effect of any other genetic variant. A 2009 Danish population study¹³¹³ 2009 Danish population study
Andersen et al. Human eye colour and HERC2, OCA2 and MATP. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 2010 of 395 individuals found that typing rs12913832 alone achieved 94% accuracy for predicting blue versus brown eye color when dichotomized into light (blue/grey/green) and dark (brown/hazel) categories.

The G allele also has measurable effects beyond the iris. The same chromatin loop mechanism affects melanin production in skin, with GG individuals showing lighter constitutive skin pigmentation¹⁴¹⁴ GG individuals showing lighter constitutive skin pigmentation
Measured by reflectance spectrophotometry on sun-protected skin compared to AA individuals (mean difference of 2-3 units on the melanin index). Gelmi et al. 2024¹⁵¹⁵ Gelmi et al. 2024
Survival in patients with uveal melanoma is linked to genetic variation at HERC2 single nucleotide polymorphism rs12913832. Ophthalmology, 2025 analyzed 392 uveal melanoma patients and found that GG genotype carriers not only had higher melanoma incidence but also showed significantly worse survival (p=0.017) and higher rates of high-risk tumors with monosomy 3 (p=0.04), though this effect was mediated through tumor genetics rather than representing an independent prognostic factor. Olsen et al. 2014¹⁶¹⁶ Olsen et al. 2014
Interactions between ultraviolet light and MC1R and OCA2 variants are determinants of childhood nevus and freckle phenotypes. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, 2014 documented a significant gene-environment interaction where the GG genotype combined with waterside vacations predicted higher total body nevus counts in children ages 6-10, suggesting that blue-eyed children with this genotype may be particularly susceptible to UV-induced melanocytic proliferation.

Practical Implications

If you have the GG genotype (blue eyes), you likely have lower baseline melanin production not just in your irises but also in your skin, which has direct implications for photoprotection¹⁷¹⁷ photoprotection
Natural defense against UV radiation damage. Melanin functions as nature's sunscreen, absorbing UV photons before they can damage DNA in keratinocytes and melanocytes. With reduced melanin, GG individuals face approximately 2-3 times higher risk¹⁸¹⁸ 2-3 times higher risk
Odds ratios from case-control studies of blue vs brown-eyed individuals of developing melanoma compared to AA individuals, particularly when combined with intermittent high-intensity sun exposure patterns like beach vacations. The interaction with UV is not simply additive—blue-eyed children show a steeper dose-response curve for nevus development per unit of sun exposure, suggesting a qualitative difference in how their skin responds to UV stress.

The AG genotype produces intermediate effects. About 41% of Europeans with AG genotype¹⁹¹⁹ 41% of Europeans with AG genotype
Based on Norwegian population data from forensic genetics studies have intermediate eye colors including green, grey, and hazel, though the majority still have brown eyes. This dosage effect²⁰²⁰ dosage effect
One functional copy of the A allele partially rescues OCA2 expression is consistent with the partial restoration of the chromatin loop observed in cell culture studies. Your melanin production is intermediate, and so is your UV sensitivity—higher than AA individuals but lower than GG.

Eye color is polygenic²¹²¹ polygenic
Controlled by multiple genes with additive effects, and rs12913832 does not explain all variation. Approximately 3% of Europeans with GG genotype²²²² 3% of Europeans with GG genotype
From studies sequencing additional eye color genes in GG brown-eyed individuals have brown eyes due to variants in other pigmentation genes including TYR, TYRP1, SLC24A4, and IRF4. Similarly, some AA or AG individuals have blue eyes due to rare variants discovered through massively parallel sequencing²³²³ massively parallel sequencing
Next-generation DNA sequencing technology of the OCA2-HERC2 region, including rs191109490 and several others at very low frequencies (0.2-8%). If your eye color doesn't match your rs12913832 genotype, you likely carry one of these modifying variants.

Interactions

This variant is in near-perfect linkage disequilibrium²⁴²⁴ near-perfect linkage disequilibrium
Two genetic variants inherited together >95% of the time with rs1129038 (r²>0.95), another intronic SNP 29.8 kb away in HERC2, forming a stable haplotype that defines the "blue eye" chromosome in Europeans. The entire 166 kb region spanning from intron 86 of HERC2 through the OCA2 gene shows remarkably low recombination, suggesting strong positive selection²⁵²⁵ strong positive selection
Evolutionary pressure favoring the blue-eye haplotype in European populations over the past 6,000-10,000 years.

OCA2 itself contains additional functional variants that modify eye color independently of rs12913832. The missense variant rs1800407²⁶²⁶ rs1800407
p.Arg419Gln in OCA2 reduces OCA2 protein function directly and is associated with lighter eye colors when combined with rs12913832 AG or GG genotypes. Two other nonsynonymous OCA2 variants, rs74653330 (p.Ala481Thr) and rs121918166 (p.Val443Ile)²⁷²⁷ rs74653330 (p.Ala481Thr) and rs121918166 (p.Val443Ile)
Both reduce OCA2 protein activity, produce blue eyes even in individuals with rs12913832 AA or AG genotypes, demonstrating that impaired OCA2 protein function can override high transcription levels from an intact enhancer.

For melanoma risk stratification, rs12913832 interacts epistatically with variants in MC1R, the red hair color gene. Individuals carrying both rs12913832 GG and MC1R loss-of-function variants²⁸²⁸ MC1R loss-of-function variants
Including R151C, R160W, D294H, and others show multiplicative rather than additive increases in melanoma risk, with combined odds ratios exceeding 5.0²⁹²⁹ combined odds ratios exceeding 5.0
Risk compared to AA genotype with wild-type MC1R in some European cohorts. This makes biological sense: MC1R variants shift melanin synthesis from protective eumelanin (brown-black) toward pheomelanin (red-yellow), which is not only less photoprotective but may actually generate reactive oxygen species³⁰³⁰ reactive oxygen species
Highly damaging molecules that attack DNA upon UV exposure, compounding the melanin deficiency caused by reduced OCA2 expression.

The variant also shows significant gene-environment interactions³¹³¹ gene-environment interactions
Genetic effects that vary depending on environmental exposures with UV exposure patterns. Longitudinal childhood cohort data³²³² Longitudinal childhood cohort data
Following children from ages 6-10 with annual sun exposure questionnaires and nevus counts revealed that the association between waterside vacations and nevus development was 2.8 times stronger in GG versus AA children (interaction p<0.001), suggesting that the same amount of sun exposure produces more melanocytic proliferation in blue-eyed children. This interaction was most pronounced for larger nevi (≥2mm), which are stronger melanoma risk factors³³³³ stronger melanoma risk factors
Each additional large nevus increases melanoma risk by ~5% than small nevi.