Tuesday, 31 May 2016

The Five Genes that Shape your Nose

Researchers have found that there are five genes that give your nose its shape. They categorised 14 facial features of more than 6000 men and women in Central and South America. The researchers then analyzed if any of those features (lip shape, nose shape and others) were associated to particular genes. They discovered that GLI3 and PAX1 were involved with the growth of cartilage and and were linked to the breadth of our nostrils. DCHS controlled the nose's pointiness, RUNX2 was associated with how wide the nose bridge is and EDAR (which was already known to be related to ear and tooth shape and hair texture) affects chin protrusion.

These discoveries could help to understand how the human face evolved and why different ethnities have different features. It could also help forensic scientists to reconstruct a face using genetic samples.


Pilar E.

3ESO BLUE

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