Know the reason of the striking blue eyes of this indigenous tribe

The color of your eyes is determined by the quantity of melanin produced by your body. Melanin is a pigment that provides color to your skin, hair, and eyes. The iris is the portion of your eye that is colored. As many as 16 genes affect eye color by regulating the melanin levels within the unique cells of the iris. Varied eye colors result from different levels of pigment.

Currently, brown is the most prevalent eye color globally; however, the recent images of the indigenous Buton tribe, situated in the southeast Sulawesi area of Indonesia, captured by geologist and photographer Korchnoi Pasaribu, went viral on social media, leaving people bewildered about how some Asians can be born with natural blue eyes.

This is due to a rare genetic condition known as Waardenburg syndrome, which leads to congenital hearing impairment and pigmentation irregularities. These may manifest as striking blue eyes (or one blue and one brown eye), a white forelock, or areas of lighter skin. The syndrome results from mutations in various genes that influence the division and migration of neural crest cells during embryonic growth.

Buton, also referred to as Butung, Boeton, or Button, is an island in Indonesia situated off the southeast tip of Sulawesi. The island is predominantly blanketed by rainforest and is recognized for its fauna. It is one of just two natural environments of the anoa, a species of buffalo, and spans approximately 4,408 square kilometers, which is similar in size to Madura; it ranks as the 129th largest island globally and the 19th largest in Indonesia by area.