Fifteen new genes identified that shape our face

Researchers at KU Leuven (Belgium) together with colleagues from the Universities of Pittsburgh, Stanford and Penn State (USA) have identified fifteen new genes that determine human facial features.

Our DNA defines our appearance, including the traits of our face. The potential applications are easy to imagine: doctors could use DNA in cranial and facial reconstructive surgery; forensic scientists could reconstruct a criminal’s face based on DNA recovered from a crime scene; and historians might recreate the features of people from distant eras using ancient DNA.

The Stanford team discovered that the genomic regions linked to facial features are activated while the face is still developing in the womb. Seven of the fifteen identified genes are connected to the nose — a finding particularly useful for forensic scientists, as the nose is the hardest feature to reconstruct when only a skull is available.

The four universities will continue their research using increasingly large databases. Peter Claes (KU Leuven), an expert in computational image analysis, also points out other possible applications: “With the same technology used in this study, we could also link other medical images, such as brain scans. In the long term, this might provide genetic insights into the shape and functioning of the brain, as well as into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.”

The results were published in Nature Genetics.