YOU could call it an invisible mugshot. Police may one day be able to reconstruct the shape of a suspect鈥檚 face from their DNA alone, thanks to the identification of five genes that contribute to facial shape.
DNA tests for predicting eye, hair and skin colour are currently available or under development, so identifying genes linked with facial features could help to create a more detailed identikit picture from someone鈥檚 DNA.
Manfred Kayser from the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and his colleagues analysed DNA from 10,000 white Europeans. They examined 17 facial 鈥渓andmarks鈥� using three-dimensional MRI scans of their heads and photographs of their faces. The team identified five genes associated with facial features 鈥� but they caution that the genes only have small effects.
Advertisement
For example, a gene called TP63 can narrow the gap between the centres of each eye socket by a maximum of just 9 millimetres. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a start,鈥� says Kayser. 鈥淏ut we are far away from predicting what someone鈥檚 face looks like.鈥� Other genes influenced the length of the nose, the distance from the eyes to the bridge of the nose, and the width between cheekbones (PLoS Genetics, ).