It seems that our intelligence is not the only thing we can credit our mothers for: a new study suggests that our nose is the facial feature we’re most likely to inherit from our parents.
Researchers from King’s College London set the likelihood that the tip of the nose is determined by your parents’ genes at 66 percent, while the probably that your philtrum (the area just below the nose) is inherited was 62 percent.
Next on the ‘most inherited’ list were the cheekbones and the inner corners of the eyes.
In order to reach these conclusions, which were published in Scientific Reports, the team from King’s College assessed 3D models of the faces of 952 identical and non-identical twins. They used 3D cameras and computer imaging to plot thousands of ‘points’ on the faces, then measured how ‘curved’ each face was at each point.
They went on to compare the similarities in measurements between the identical twins and the non-identical twins, the latter of whom only share half their genetic material. Next, the ‘heritability’ of each part of the face – or, the likelihood that each feature had been determined by genetics – was calculated.
‘The notion that our genes control our face is self-evident. Many of us have facial traits that clearly resample those of our parents, and identical twins are often indistinguishable,’ Professor Giovanni Montana explained.
‘However, quantifying precisely which parts of the face are strongly heritable has been challenging so far,’ he added, revealing that these face maps will ‘help identify specific genes shaping up the human face, which may also be involved in diseases altering the face morphology.’
Time to phone your mum and thank her for your perfect philtrum?
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