The study showed that such people have similar genotypes, especially with regard to genes involved in the formation of the mouth, nose, eyes, forehead and jaw, but a different microbiome.
People who show a great deal of facial similarity also usually have similar DNA, according to a new Spanish scientific study, the first to make this correlation clear, uncovering a biological explanation for the sosia phenomenon.
For decades scientists have taken for granted the existence of people who look eerily similar to each other despite having no family ties, but had not found an explanation for it. The new research was based on photographs of people with a similar face but not genetically related to each other, as well as an analysis of their genetic material.
Thanks to the internet and the posting of a large amount of photos on social media and other platforms, it has become easier to search for such cases with the help of artificial intelligence algorithms and their number has increased significantly. It was thus realized that the sosia phenomenon (or almost) is more common than was thought until recently.
The researchers, led by Dr. Manel Esteler, director of the Josep Carreras Leukemia Research Institute and professor of genetics at the University of Barcelona, who made the relevant publication in the biology journal “Cell Reports”, identified 32 unknowns among humans (16 pairs), but with great facial similarity (like twins or fraternal twins).
“The appearance of a person’s duplicates as if they were photocopies has long attracted the interest of art and popular culture, but it has never been approached from a real scientific perspective. What we have done is collect biological material from extremely similar individuals to see if there is an objective reason for their similarity,” said Esteller.
Research participants completed questionnaires with biometrics and lifestyle data, and provided a DNA sample for analysis of their genome, epigenetic profile (mechanisms of genome regulation) and microbiome (composition of microbial communities in the body).
The study showed that such people have similar genotypes, especially with regard to genes involved in the formation of the mouth, nose, eyes, forehead and jaw, but a different microbiome.
The genetic similarity is not limited to the face, as in nine of the 16 couples high DNA similarity was found, as well as high similarity in biological characteristics such as weight and height, behavioral (e.g. smoking) and others (e.g. educational level ).
RES-EMP
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