Study: DNA can predict hair color

ROTTERDAM, Netherlands, Jan. 3 (UPI) -- Dutch researchers say crime-scene DNA can be used to predict a person's likely hair color, allowing police to search for a suspect with a particular color.

In research to be published in the journal Human Genetics, Researches at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam say it is possible, on the basis of DNA information, to determine with an accuracy of more than 90 percent whether a person has red hair, with a similarly high accuracy whether a person has black hair, and with an accuracy of more than 80 percent whether a person's hair color is blond or brown, a Springer journals release said Monday.

The necessary DNA for such a determination can be taken from blood, sperm, saliva or other biological materials relevant in forensic case work, researchers say.

"That we are now making it possible to predict different hair colors from DNA represents a major breakthrough because, so far, only red hair color, which is rare, could be estimated from DNA," said Manfred Kayser of the Department of Forensic Molecular Biology at Erasmus MC. "For our research we made use of the DNA and hair color information of hundreds of Europeans and 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."

The researchers, who previously published articles on predicting eye color and estimating age on the basis of DNA material, say a DNA test for hair color should be available soon for forensic research.