Genome scans of facial features in East Africans and cross-population comparisons reveal novel associations.

ABSTRACT: Facial morphology is highly variable, both within and among human populations, and a sizable portion of this variation is attributable to genetics. Previous genome scans have revealed more than 100 genetic loci associated with different aspects of normal-range facial variation. Most of these loci have been detected in Europeans, with few studies focusing on other ancestral groups. Consequently, the degree to which facial traits share a common genetic basis across diverse sets of humans remains largely unknown. We therefore investigated the genetic basis of facial morphology in an East African cohort. We applied an open-ended data-driven phenotyping approach to a sample of 2,595 3D facial images collected on Tanzanian children. This approach segments the face into hierarchically arranged, m

SUBMITTER: Liu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8375984 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature