Use DNA to reproduce the face of crime

Scientists can use DNA obtained from crime scenes to recreate criminal imagery through molecular imaging.

Reproducing the criminal's face thanks to DNA

The face of the perpetrator will be re-established by assembling molecular images based on the DNA structure. (Photo: BBC)

Today's scientists can use DNA obtained at the crime scene to re-image the face of the offender. The process is called " molecular imaging".

" This technology opens the prospect of facial reconstruction by a few cells, " explains Gabriel Weston, surgeon in the BBC's Crime Scene History series.

To test the effectiveness of this method, DNA taken from Gabriel's saliva samples was sent anonymously to a group of Belgian scientists. From this data, Dr. Peter Claes, a medical imaging specialist at the University of Leuven, recreated the image of Gabriel's face.

One can judge the accuracy of the comparison of Gabriel's real face image and the resulting image based on hereditary structure.

"Her eyebrows are outstretched than normal people, chin is the same ," Dr. Claes described as Gabriel's face.

" She has a special chin, which is higher than the European one, but in my opinion this is not bad." Her cheeks were a little flabby, however, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact point on her face, Because it depends on the diet. "

The scientists superimposed their predictions on Gabriel's picture. (Photo: BBC)

After the husband placed the predicted face on a photo of Gabriel, all eyes, nose, mouth, chin were in the right place. Of course, they are slightly rounded compared to real people.

Claes and his colleagues in the US are building face and DNA databases. Based on this, he created a model of face structure based on 20 genes. They are rapidly growing this technology, raising the number of genes to 200. Expected, in a few years, the image will be more accurate.