Researchers have started to figure out how DNA fine-tunes faces. In experiments on mice, they have identified thousands of regions in the genome that act like dimmer switches for the many genes that code for facial features, such as the shape of the skull or size of the nose.
Specific mutations in genes are already known to cause conditions such as cleft lips or palates. But in the latest study, a team of researchers led by Axel Visel of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, wanted to find out how variations seen across the normal range of faces are controlled.
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Read the full, original story here: Faces are sculpted by ‘junk DNA’
