Facial Identikit can be Developed Via Genetic Codes Present in the DNA

A new study conducted by an international team of researchers has found that one can develop an identikit thanks to five different genetic codes present in the DNA. Scientists with the International Visible Trait Genetics Consortium, which included researchers from Germany, UK, Netherlands, Australia and Canada, analyzed the genes of more than 10,000 people from five different countries to identify the genes responsible for different facial traits.

The researchers identified five genes responsible for facial traits, three of which had earlier been linked to facial defects while a fourth was related to a minor defect which influenced the distance between the eyes and the top of the nose.

Lead researcher Prof Manfred Keyser, from Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, said that further study could look into ways through which the police can develop a mugshot of an individual based solely on the DNA.

“Perhaps some time it will be possible to draw a phantom portrait of a person solely from his or her DNA left behind, which provides interesting applications such as in forensics. We already can predict from DNA certain eye and hair colours with quite high accuracies”, he said.

Source-Medindia