Purple Eyes and Other Interesting Anomalies

If you have read any of the statistics of my Daria-based fan fiction characters or any of my stories about those characters, you will have noticed that three of my characters (Raven, Rebecca, and Zia) have deep purple eyes. It's not because they wear contacts in order to hide their real eye colors. It's because of a genetic mutation called "Alexandria's Genesis."

The Origins of the "Genesis"

"Alexandria's Genesis," as it has been called since the 1960s, is a genetic mutation generally found in women of Euro-American (a.k.a., Caucasian) descent. This mutation can be traced as far as the Middle Ages in Northern Europe. The first known record of "Alexandria's Genesis" was written in the year CE 1330 (Common Era).

A woman named Alexandria Augustine came into the world on April 29, CE 1329 in London, England. At the time, she appeared to be normal, but her parents soon noticed that her eyes were changing from the blue eyes Alexandria had at birth to the purple eyes she would have by her first birthday. The parents were startled by this dramatic change. They took her to their priest, thinking that a witch did this to their child, and that the priest might be able to ask God to change the eye color back. The priest told the parents that it was not the work of the devil, but a myth come true. This particular priest had heard a story about a race of people who had purple eyes. These humans were thought to have come from Egypt after a mysterious light flashed in the sky during a moonless night thousands of years ago. The purple-eyed humans also had very fair skin, and were thought to be spirits because of their appearance. The so-called "spirit people" eventually went north and vanished without a trace. The priest told her parents not to worry, for they had a special child in their hands and they should take good care of her.

Eventually, Alexandria grew up to be a very beautiful woman, got married, had four children (all four were girls, and all four also had the mutation), never got sick, and died at the age of 150 of natural causes. It is this discovery that helped to name the genetic mutation when the gene was discovered in 1968.

The Characteristics of "Alexandria's Genesis"

The first characteristic of people with "Alexandria's Genesis" is their eye color. When someone is born with this genetic mutation, the eyes are either blue or gray at birth. At six months, the eyes begin their transformation from the original color to purple. This process is completed by the person's first birthday. A second process, where the eye color deepens, starts as soon as the first is completed. This slow process continues until the onset of puberty. By then, the eye will have become a dark purple, a deep purple, a royal purple, or a violet-blue color, and will be that color for the rest of their time. These changes do not affect the person's eyesight, though. If anything, the eyesight is, and remains until death, 20/20.

Speaking of puberty, those who have the mutation will never grow any facial, body, pubic, or anal hair during this stage of growth. In fact, the only hair they will ever have is what is on their heads, in their ears and nose, their eyebrows, and their eyelashes. Women also have an added bonus beyond never having to shave: never buying tampons or pads. It turns out that females born with "Alexandria's Genesis" never menstruate in their lives. They are fertile, however, and can go through the same things that women without the mutation can go through every month. Beyond these differences, those with the mutation go through puberty as normally as everyone else does.

Below are all of the characteristics of "Alexandria's Genesis."

Clear, silver-like purple eyes (after 1^st birthday; deepen in color until onset of puberty)

No facial or body hair growth beyond what was already there at birth

Dark brown or black hair

Shimmering white skin that resist tanning and burning

Lack of menstruation cycle (in women)

Highly evolved immune system (has been known to resist every disease known to man so far)

Appear 5-20 years younger (after the age of 21, the aging process slows down greatly; it stops completely between the ages of 40-50)

Long life span (ranges from 130-170 years)

Perfect vision

Never overweight (their metabolism prevents the gaining of too much fat [a.k.a., partial lipodystophy])

Well-developed and proportioned bodies

Found mainly in women of Euro-American descent

Women are the primary carriers of the mutation

Children born from mothers with the mutation are also carriers

Mutation remains active generation after generation

Mutation grows stronger generation after generation

Interracial Children of the "Genesis"

An interesting aspect of this mutation is that if it passed on to a child whose mother or father is not of Euro-American descent, the child will receive all of the qualities of those who have the gene. The only quality that changes is the skin color; it is lighter than those without the gene are, but it is not as light as the parent with the mutation is. So far, this gene has shown up in children whose mother or father was Hispanic, Asian, or Arabic. If these children were to marry someone within their own race, their offspring would also develop the same characteristics. The most startling aspect of the biracial "Genesis" children is that they take on a more Euro-American appearance. Not much more is known about these children beyond these initial findings.

Another Interesting Development

In ten percent of the population that has "Alexandria's Genesis," there is another characteristic of this mutation that is increasing on a yearly basis: the processing of human waste… or lack thereof.

As it turns out, in some of these people, the mutation is actually causing the digestive system to produce no waste. No one has found out how this is possible, but most scientists have a theory that may explain this increasing phenomenon.

The digestion process goes through its normal procedure until the digested product enters the large intestine. It is there, scientists suggest, that the large intestine absorbs everything and uses the product to keep the body in top shape. This makes the bladder completely useless, and leaves the small intestine and rectum as just an opening. It is not much of a theory, since very little is still known about "Alexandria's Genesis."

Conclusion

There are questions about this genetic mutation that remain unanswered. The biggest question left unanswered is where "Alexandria's Genesis" actually first appeared. Many researchers are looking into the myth of the "spirit people" of Egypt in order to find out if this mutation really did exist several thousands of years ago. If that is indeed the case, the next question to be answered is if this mutation is of Earth origin… or of a different place.