Beauty, it's all about DNA. Map out the genes that make you attractive

Whether you are beautiful or not is all a matter of genetics. The new study.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but it could also depend a lot on DNA. Some genetic mutations, in fact, would be linked to people's beauty: our genes play a key role in determining the grace of our face, but their effect varies according to gender. In short, whether you are beautiful or not is all a matter of genetics.

This is explained by researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who in a new study have identified precisely the "beauty genes", different in male and female individuals: the genetic code responsible for the good appearance of a face is "sex-specific", that is, it takes on different functions in men and women.

A systematic review

American scientists analyzed the genome of 4.383 people of European descent and at the same time submitted photos of the faces of those participating in the study to a group of volunteers, who had the task of evaluating the attraction level of each face.

Subsequently, the researchers cross-referenced the genetic data of the sample with the overall beauty score achieved by each individual. In doing so, they identified different genetic sequences related to the beauty of the male face and the beauty of the female face ("Sex-specific"), therefore different and with different functions in the two sexes.

For example, in women some genetic variants linked to beauty would be linked to genes that affect body mass, while in men the variants would be related to genes that affect blood cholesterol levels.

Only when taken as a whole would the “beauty geniuses” play a major role in determining the attractiveness of a face.

"There is no main gene that determines the beauty of a person - explains Qiongshi Lu. Instead, this factor is most likely associated with a large number of genetic components, with weak effects when taken individually".

The next step, the experts say, will consist in replicating the experiment on a larger sample of individuals even of different origins.