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4 genetic mutations that affected your appearance

Gene mutations are the result of evolution, and everyone is bound to have at least one of these four mutations.

Check which one you have!

Blue eyes

Once upon a time, all people had brown eyes, but it is mutation in the HERC2 gene about 6,000 or 8,000 years ago caused a blockage of the brown pigment. Today, about 8 percent of the world's population has blue eyes, and they all share a common ancestor: a male skeleton found in Spain that is about 7,000 years old.

Blue eyes
Blue eyes

Ability to digest lactose

Most mammals stop drinking milk when they get a little older, and adult mammals have a harder time digesting it, as the enzyme that takes care of it slows down. But not with humans. 10 thousand years ago, somewhere in the area of Turkey there was a mutations, which makes most people today able to digest lactose.

Red hair

This beautiful hair color comes from mutations in a single MC1R gene - about 4 percent of the world's population has it, mainly in northern Europe. An undesirable side effect of this mutation is different pain thresholds. Redheads thus have a lower threshold for thermal pain (such as burns), but a higher threshold for other forms of pain, such as electric shocks.

Red hair
Red hair

Lack of wisdom teeth

Wisdom teeth are not always a 'privilege' of modern society. As humans evolved, our brains grew larger, necessitating a narrower jaw. So there was no room for wisdom teeth in each jaw, which caused a lot of pain and various infections. Fortunately, it happened about 400 thousand years ago mutation, which prevented the growth of wisdom teeth. Today it is shared by 25 percent of Europeans, 40 percent of Asians and 45 percent of Eskimos.

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