Scientists reconstruct facial features of 2,000-year-old mummies
Scientists in a company working on DNA technology reconstructed the faces of three men who lived in ancient Egypt 2,000 years ago, but Egyptian Egyptologists raise cautions about the significance of the feat.
CAIRO — The American Live Science website reported Sept. 27 that a team of scientists have successfully recreated the faces of three men who lived in ancient Egypt more than 2,000 years ago, in what was described as a “stunning” operation.
The website said that researchers at Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company based in Reston, Virginia, were behind the reconstruction process. “Digital reconstructions depict the men at age 25, based on DNA data extracted from their mummified remains,” the website added.
The three mummies were found in Abusir el-Meleq, an ancient Egyptian city located on a flood plain south of Cairo. They were buried between 1380 BC and 425 AD.
The researchers at Parabon NanoLabs relied on genetic data deduced by Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Tübingen, Germany, to create 3D models of the mummies' faces through a process called forensic DNA phenotyping (also known as Snapshot). The process uses genetic analysis to predict the shape of facial features and other aspects of a person's physical appearance.
