German researchers showed how the faces of three people aged 25 looked like people from the Abusir el-Melek community in Egypt. To do this, they sequenced the DNA of their mummies, and then created portraits using forensic methods. The samples that I had to work with are from 2023 to 2797 years old.
First, the macromolecules were processed by scientists, and then the samples were taken up by a company that specializes in genetic engineering.
Forensic DNA phenotyping was used for the reconstruction, which uses genetic analysis to predict the shape of the face, features and other aspects of a person’s appearance.
They also designed 3D meshes to describe the mummies’ facial features and calculated heat maps to identify differences between people and highlight the details of each face. Then the heatmaps were combined with the results of DNA analysis, which revealed the origin of the men, the color of their skin, hair and eyes. The report noted that the technology was designed to work with complex forensic samples and therefore can handle missing data.
– The results, as reported by Rossiyskaya gazeta, showed the origin of each mummy, pigmentation and facial morphology. Interestingly, their ancestors were determined to be more similar to modern people of the Mediterranean and the Middle East than to modern Egyptians. Their complexion was to be light brown, with dark eyes and hair, and no freckles. These results are in complete agreement with scientists’ findings that the ancient Egyptians had more ancestors with Middle Eastern humans than modern Egyptians, who were then transformed into three-dimensional graphic grids, the researchers say.
