Scientists have discovered genes "responsible" for the face
Last reviewed: 16.10.2021
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Dutch scientists from the University of Erasmus together with colleagues from Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom found that five genes are responsible for the formation of the face. The results of their work appeared on the pages of the journal PLoS Genetics.
The fact that the shape of a person is determined by genes is not new. The faces of the multizygous twins have much more similarities than the nonnative people - they are almost identical.
The main goal of the investigation is to identify those genes that are responsible for the appearance.
Studies were conducted under the supervision of the International Visible Trait Genetics (VisiGen) Consortium. In the course of the work, scientists analyzed 10,000 images of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain of the participants in the experiment, as well as their photographs. This was done in order to create a so-called map of "starting points" on the face. All volunteers were representatives of the European race.
Among the parameters that were studied, was the analysis of the distance between the pupils, the length of the nose and the distance between the wings of the nose.
With the help of DNA microarrays, scientists traced the heredity of the subjects, and then compared the results with the parameters of the facial features and looked for the relationship between them.
So the experts managed to find out which genes are responsible for the morphology of the human face - COL17A1, PRDM16, TP63, C5orf50, PAX3.
Some of them were already known to science. The mutations that occurred in them were associated with developmental anomalies. For example, they played an important role in the development of the craniofacial department, were crucial in the development of skeletal diseases, including the spine.
Experts suspect that on this list of "facial" genes may not end, but still these genes play a decisive role.
"These are amazing results. They open our eyes to an understanding of how the formation of the human face is taking place. This knowledge can be used in practical forensics, with the help of DNA it will be possible to establish the appearance of a person. Already now we can more accurately tell by DNA what color a person has eyes and hair, "says Professor Manfred Kaiser.
In addition, the authors made another important discovery, which changes the view of the relationship between the appearance of a person and DNA: the appearance of a person is determined by the total action of hundreds or even thousands of individual genes. The impact of each separately, although significant, but not so great.