Appearance-Prediction Technology

Florida police began using appearance prediction technology in the case of a stalker nicknamed "The Serial Creeper."  By using the DNA left behind the the crime scenes, scientists at Parabon NanoLabs in Reston, VA, were able to use genetic clues like hair color, eye color, facial features, and ancestry to digitally create the criminal's face.  It costs about $4,500 for this analysis to be done.

These images, of course, are not completely accurate because there are so many genetic factors that influence facial appearance.  While it is possible to access the genetic information to predict hair color, scientists are not yet able to predict things like nose width or exact height.  Also, traits like hair color can easily be changed.  For this reason, many researchers believe that this kind of prediction technology isn't ready to be used in criminal investigations quite yet.

Once this technology becomes more advanced and we can predict height and bone structure features more accurately, investigators will be able to identify suspects with greater confidence  While criminals can change their appearance, traits like ethnicity or face shape cannot be altered.  For now, this technology is great for eliminating suspects.  For example, if they know the criminal has blond hair, they would be able to rule out any suspect with red, brown, or black hair.

How did this technology come about?  In 2012, Manfred Kayser, a geneticist at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, along with his colleagues used the DNA and 2D/3D images of about 10,000 participants to analyze which genes are responsible for influencing face shape.  The bridge of the nose seemed to have a response to the PAX3 gene.  Although this discovery was a step in the right direction, there is still so much more to be discovered on face shape alone.

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Genetic mugshot recreates faces from nothing but DNA

Nowadays it’s hard to identify people who have committed murders or have stolen something very valuable. In any case detectives try to look for fingerprints of the person who committed the crime and try to match with some suspects. However, how many suspects are you’re going to go through to find the real one, or what if you can’t identify the suspect with just their fingerprints? Well geneticists have come up with a brilliant idea to make an almost realistic “photofit” wanted poster just by using the DNA of the suspect.

Researchers have developed a method for determining how genes influence facial shape. Today, it is already possible to make some type of reference about the appearance of a crime suspect from their DNA alone. This includes their racial ancestry and shades of hair color.

Not if, but when, claim researchers who have developed a method for determining how our genes influence facial shape. One day, the technique may even allow us to gaze into the faces of extinct human-like species that interbred with our own ancestors. In 2012 Manfred Kayser of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with is team had identified five different genetic variants with detectable effects on facial shape.  Geneticist Mark Shriver of Pennsylvania State University and Peter Claes of the Catholic University of Leuven used a stereoscopic camera to capture some 3D images of 600 people in Europe. He studied these picture and looked out for genes that affected the relative positions of the facial areas.

More and more researchers are studying how their can improve this way of identifying facial shape, look, and making a more realistic picture of a person with just using their DNA. It’s amazing where researchers have gotten with advanced research. Hopefully they continue to improve their research and find ways to make this idea come true.