Crime Scene DNA Could Create Image of Suspect's Face

Feb. 18, 2009— -- Taking the police sketch artist's drawing into the 21st century, scientists are developing a new method that will allow cops to create an image of a suspect's face by reading the genes he leaves behind at a crime scene.

Unlocking the genes in a single strand of hair or drop of blood to construct an image of the donor's face is a process called "forensic molecular photo fitting," which could be "used to figure out what someone looks like based on their genetic markers," said Mark Shriver, an anthropologist and geneticist at Pennsylvania State University who is leading the research.

For two decades, police have used DNA to match a potential suspect to the scene of a crime, determining if the genes in a sample of blood or semen belong to an accused perpetrator.

Shriver's research takes the process one step further, not just matching a sample to a suspect but using the genetic material in that sample to create a profile of a suspect, and even a picture of his face that police can then go look for.

In addition to suspects, the same science can be used to identify victims, piecing together an image of a person's face when her remains have been severely destroyed or damaged.

"We know enough to estimate hair color, eye color, the presence of moles, skin color, hair texture, body size -- even if someone's ear wax is wet or dry," Shriver said. "We can even determine a whole host of behavioral traits like handedness -- is someone left or right handed -- all of which can help police narrow down the suspect they're looking for."

The next leap is using that information, particularly about facial features, to construct a picture of a suspect's face.

"We're working with facial images to better understand which genes determine which superficial traits," Shriver said.

Shriver said the science was still "in the research phase" and that geneticists had a better understanding of some genes' influence, such as those that determine skin color, compared to others.

"The image might be blurry in some areas, and some areas of the face where we have more information might be more defined," he said.