DNA at Crime Scene can be used to Create Offender's Mugshot

DNA samples collected from  crime scenes can be used to reconstruct facial features of the offender, according to a latest study.

 DNA evidence is already used to find a perpetrator's gender and ethnicity. Now, researchers at Penn State University have found that information on gender and genomic variation could help reconstruct faces.

"We use DNA to match to an individual or identify an individual, but you can get so much more from DNA," said Mark D. Shriver, professor of anthropology, Penn State. "Currently we can't go from DNA to a face or from a face to DNA, but it should be possible."

To look at face type, researchers created 3D models of 600 people belonging to mixed European and African ancestry. The team then placed a grid with nearly 7,000 points on these models and recorded location of each point, New Scientist reported.

Researchers then used statistical methods to find links between different facial features and factors such as genes, sex and ancestry.

"Probably only 5 percent of genes show a difference between populations," said Shriver in a news release. "We are using different populations because they have had different environments and different social environments."

Researchers identified common gene mutations that could explain the variation in certain facial features. For example, they found a gene associated with lip formation and another gene was linked with the bone structure around the eyes. Nearly 20 such genes were found, the Australian reported.

DNA-based facial reconstruction can also be used to  determine the face of the father or to  find out how human ancestors might have looked like.

The study was funded by The National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice and the National Institutes of Health and is published in the journal PLOS Genetics.

New York artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg has used genetic material left at public places to reconstruct faces of unknown people. You can read about the details of the technique, here.