Scientists sniff out five genes that determine the shape of your nose

In the futuristic movie Gattaca, those in the ruling class are genetically engineered to be a physically perfect version of their parents. They are as thin and tall as models, with perfect cheekbones, square jaws and thick, glossy hair. Think of stars Uma Thurman and Jude Law.

When the movie came out in 1997, this idea of “designer babies” was still far-fetched. DNA analysis was still in its early stages and the world was still years away from sequencing the first human genome, much less a particular gene’s function.

But in the more than 20 years that have passed, our understanding of our own DNA and how it works has exploded. We now know that most blue eyes come from changes in a gene known as HERC2 that occurred during the Stone Age, that the classic Irish combination of red hair and a fair face comes from MC1R, and that thick Asian hair appears to originate from EDAR. There are at least eight genes that appear to be associated with skin colour, over 20 impacting height and a number impacting weight.

This week, scientists writing in Nature Communications reported that they had found five new genes that impact that one feature on our faces that practically everyone thinks can be improved: noses.

The analysis involves scans of facial features of 6,000 volunteers in Latin America. According to DNA analysis, the group was estimated to be 50 pe rcent European, 45 per cent Native American and 5 per cent African. Researchers measured nose bridge breadth (the width in the middle of your nose), nose wing breadth (the width at the bottom of your nose where it widens) and columella inclination (the incline of that section between the two nostrils) and found that they were associated with genes known as DCHS2, RUNX2, GLI3, PAX1 and EDAR.

The study also found that these genes appear to influence other facial characteristics like how much your brow ride protrudes, your forehead profile and the thickness of your lips.