The eyes don't have it: nose is most likely feature to be inherited

Children are often thought to inherit their mother’s eyes, or the distinctive smile of their father.

But new research suggests that in fact the nose is the part of the face most likely to be handed down the generations.

The tip of the nose is around 66 per cent likely to be the result of your parents’ genes, and the philtrum - the area below it - around 62 per cent.

These areas, as well as the cheekbones and the inner corner of the eye were found to be most influenced by genetics, according to the study by King’s College, London.

The research published in Scientific Reports used computer image and statistical shape analysis to shed light on which parts of the face are most likely to be inherited.

To test which features are the results of genetics, researchers took scans of twins' faces using 3D cameras and custom built statistical software to generate thousands of points that were perfectly aligned across the face.

They then measured how “curved” each face looked at each one of those locations.

The study then examined how similar these measurements were between identical twins, who have the same genes, and non-identical twins, who only share half of the genes, to calculate hte likelihood that each facial feature is determined by genetics.