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How scientists can tell what you look like using a strand of hair 

Genetic phenotyping is the process of using a sample of DNA to predict a person’s externally visible characteristics.

Forensic experts can predict physical traits like skin tone, ear shape, eye colour, the space between your eyes and even freckles.  

Hear about genetic phenotyping and how your DNA can be used on a brand new season of Secrets We Keep – Should I Spit:

Basically, how we look is written in our DNA. It’s a great way for forensic experts to identify suspects, remains, or help us understand what our ancestors looked like.  

Investigative journalist Claire Aird says this technology raises big questions about ethics and privacy.  

FamilySearch is a church-owned not-for-profit that conducts genealogy research to find people’s ancestry. They only need one nanogram of DNA, which they run through snapshot algorithms.

Can our genetic information be used against us?  

Michael Usry was an amateur filmmaker from New Orleans. One day, police unexpectedly took him to the station and questioned him about a murder that happened 16 years prior and 3000 kilometres away.

Police had a warrant to take Michael’s family’s DNA, which they claimed matched a sample at the crime scene. They also pointed to the fact Michael passed through the city where the murder took place, and that he also made scary films.

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But Michael wasn’t the murderer, neither was anyone in his family that he knew.  

“They had come out with this technology that based on the genetic imprint and all this information, they would come up with a picture for you, you know, a face profile,” Michael said.  

So how did they link this DNA to Michael’s family?

“They paid this money and got this face profile. And he was like, we want you to take a look at this and see if it’s anybody you recognise… But it was nobody that I had ever seen. It looked like a cartoon generic shot of almost anybody.” 

Years earlier, Michael’s dad had submitted a DNA sample at a local church project to explore their family tree.

This profile ended up in a database later owned by Ancestry.com where police accessed it with a warrant. He never dreamed it could lead to his son being  a suspect in a murder.   

Find out how your genetic information can put you at risk on a brand new season of Secrets We Keep – Should I Spit. Binge all episodes now on the free LiSTNR app.