Certain Genes may Predict Facial Deformities

A recent study shows that genes may actually predict facial and cranial defects.

According to a team of international scientists, they studied a small cluster of genetic material that plays an important role in developing both the features. Researchers studied the experiments through mice in order to find that the development of the human face progresses in a similar manner.

"Somewhere in there there must be that blueprint that defines what our face looks like," lead author Prof. Axel Visel of Joint Genome Institute at California's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory said, via a press release.

Yet researchers note that the facial and cranial variations in mice are not always so easy to spot.

"The way we can get around this is to use CT scans to study the shapes of the skulls of these mice. We take them and scan their heads. then we can measure the shape of the skull of these mice and we can do this in a very precise way," explained Visel, via the release.

Researchers tested 4,000 genome "enhancers" on mice. These minute DNA seem to influence facial features and work to turn genes on and off, with over 200 enhances tracing to specific parts of the face and skull.

They also tested the extent of the role for the enhances by removing three of the enhances from a group of mice via observing their development against those with complete genetic switches.

When looking at CT scans, researchers found a hardly noticeable variation present for both facial and cranial shapes. However, some of the mice had longer skulls, while others had shorter faces or wider or narrower ones than others.

"What this really tells us is that this particular switch also plays a role in development of the skull and can affect what exactly the skull looks like," Visel concluded.

What do you think?

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal Science.