The study paves the way for a forensic test that could estimate the hair color of a suspect from DNA left at a crime scene. The information could then be used to refine the description of an unknown but wanted person. The researchers found that it was possible to determine with an accuracy of more than 90% whether a person had red hair, with a similar accuracy for people with black hair. They could estimate with an accuracy of more than 80% whether a person's hair color was blond or brown. This new genetic approach is also able to differentiate between some hair colors that are similar, for example, between red and reddish blond, or between blond and dark blond hair. The researchers studied DNA and hair color information from hundreds of Europeans. They investigated genes previously known to influence the differences in hair color. "We identified 13 'DNA markers' from 11 genes that are informative to predict a person's hair color," said Professor Kayser, chair of the Department of Forensic Molecular Biology at Erasmus. Predicting human "phenotypes" - a person's outward traits such as hair color or eye color - from DNA information is a newly emerging field in forensics. Professor Kayser's team has already developed a test for eye color based on DNA markers.
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