A UCL-led research team has identified 18 genome regions that influence tooth size and shape, publishing their findings in Current Biology in December 2024. Seventeen of these regions had not previously been linked to tooth dimensions, and one involves a gene thought to be inherited from Neanderthals through interbreeding with ancient humans. The study draws on data from 882 volunteers in Colombia with mixed European, Native American, and African ancestry, using 3D scans of dental plaster casts to derive crown measurements, which were then compared against genetic data in a genome-wide association study using a multiomics approach. The Neanderthal-derived variant, found only in participants of European descent, was associated with thinner incisors, and European-ancestry participants tended to have smaller teeth overall. The team also found that EDAR, a gene already known to affect incisor shape in East Asian populations, determines the width of all teeth. Researchers from Fudan University, Aix-Marseille University, the Open University, and the National University of La Plata contributed to the study. The authors note that some genes driving normal variation in tooth dimensions may also underlie dental anomalies such as tooth agenesis, raising the possibility that genetic testing could eventually support diagnosis or that gene therapies could treat certain conditions.