A baby's facial appearance is shaped by what their mother eats during pregnancy.
A baby's look is influenced by what their mother eats during pregnancy
Subtle differences in the way people look, such as the shape of their skull and the amount of cartilage in their nose, are created in the womb by genes triggered by nutrition.
The genes - known as mTORC1 - become more active if lots of protein is consumed and a baby's appearance can be "fine-tuned" with tweaks to the length of the nose and the width of the nostrils.
The reason for subtle differences in appearance between siblings has baffled experts for many years but they are now confident that an expectant mother's diet plays a pivotal role.
The researchers wrote in the journal Nature Communications: "We found that modulation of the level of protein in the maternal diet regulates mTORC1 activity, resulting in subtle but distinct changes in the craniofacial shape of the embryos."