Using a person's DNA, researchers have developed a technology through which a person's mug shot can be created. Researchers from the Penn State and the Catholic University of Leuven have developed the application that has wide range of usability.

It can be used for forensic analysis and also to have a better picture of humanity's ancestors. Leaders of the study, Mark Shriver, a geneticist and Peter Claes, an imaging specialist said their devised took will help in creating a person's photograph through genetic, racial and general marker in his DNA.

To carry out the study, 600 volunteers were enrolled from mixed European and West African ancestry. These people were taken with aim to know the differences in their facial structures. Researchers took a 3-D image of volunteers' faces and then created a network of around 7,000 points.

These points are vital as they will be used to exactly measure the structural makeup of genes linked to gender and descent. In the second stage, volunteers were tested for 76 genetic variants that could lead to facial
abnormalities. If the technology is corrected for race and sex then 20 genes with 24 variants showed facial shape.

"Results on a set of 20 genes showing significant effects on facial features provide support for this approach as a novel means to identify genes affecting normal-range facial features", said the researchers.

The technology has been proved to be more accurate than previous models and it has been used to identify some serial cases in Pennsylvania. It is said that much more work has to be done with regard to the tool.

More clinical studies including people from different nationalities and races will be carried out. In the next round, 30,000 different points will be used.