Biología molecular para inferir fenotipos de restos forenses y antiguos en bioarqueología -- Revisión.

The phenotype is the result of the interaction of the genotype with epigenetic factors and the environment. It has been considered that genetics is responsible for >70% of facial phenotype. Interestingly, besides sequencing nucleic acids, it is possible to generate DNA methylation maps of ancient remains, to determine phenotypes. Other application areas are medicine, forensics and law-enforcement. Thus, breakthroughs in nucleic-acid analyses are allowing to determine the phenotype from genotypic data. That is also being facilitated by developments in software (including parallel processing) and hardware, including neural engines (neural-network hardware). New strategies involving artificial intelligence and machine learning have been also deployed to reach such a goal. Phenotyping is a challenging task, on the edge of current technology. Promising results have already been obtained, including prediction of Neanderthal (Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) and Denisovan (Homo sapiens denisova) faces. The future is promising in this research area, in which ethical and legal implications should also be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]