Creating visual profile from DNA

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Are we at an age where innovation and progress transcend anything imaginable? It seems that as time passes, we’re witnessing more and more developments that up until recently were reserved for science fiction novels. New technology being developed these days will allow investigation teams that reach crime scenes to build a visual profile of the feature of the suspect through the DNA evidence left at the scene. In order to put this new technology to the test, a group of scientists in Belgium received a DNA sample produced from spit, which was sent to them with no information regarding the identity of the person to who it belongs. The results were spectacular – the resemblance between the image produced by the Belgian scientists and the facial features of the person they imitated was great, considering the early stages of the research.

Despite the match between the person producing the DNA and the image created in the laboratory not being perfect, Peter Claes who was at the head of the research team claims that the image produced can be useful in a police investigation to find a criminal. For instance, it can determine the criminal being male or female, and to illustrate general features of the suspect. This way, even if the result is not perfect, police can narrow their list of suspects and thus solve a case much faster, without lingering on investigating innocent suspects.