DNA Sketch Artist

A new technology that constructs accurate 3D models of human faces using nothing but DNA as a guide could change the way law enforcement agencies go about solving crimes. Rather than relying on facial recall by witnesses – which is far from an exact science – a model could be produced using a sample of DNA from hair, saliva or other bodily fluids.

Three-dimensional images from hundreds of volunteers were compared with their DNA to identify over 7,000 points of reference. A software program then finds correlations between DNA, sex, race, and facial features. Surprisingly, the researchers found that 20 genes with only 24 variants were needed to identify a person’s facial shape as well as the shape of their eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks and chin, making the method reliable enough to approximate someone’s appearance.

The next step is to improve reliability of the system by increasing the number of reference points on each face to 30,000.