When we look at portraits of ourselves juxtaposed with our parents, grandparents, or relatives, we sometimes notice resemblances or similarities in facial features that show how we are related. Sometimes, parents or grandparents look at newborn babies to figure out which side of the family they look like, although it's baffling how resemblances actually occur.
Geneticists have been trying to figure out how to break down the way our facial features and structures are formed for years. Trying to identify the particular gene responsible for the way our faces look is an arduous task. One would have to sift through thousands of genes to analyze how each one affects the development of our facial features.
So, several researchers looked toward grouping the genes into teams instead of identifying each gene responsible for specific features. Particularly, a study by Sahin Naqvi and his colleagues suggest that certain regulatory genes could be the 'captain' of the team of genes that are responsible for the development of the jaw or the forehead.
(Image credit: Jennifer Marquez/Unsplash)