--- title: Family Photos Can Help Computers Diagnose Genetic Diseases in Children description: Researchers at Oxford have developed a new form of facial recognition software that analyzes family photos to diagnose rare genetic diseases canonical: https://time.com/2921053/your-family-photo-facebook-album-could-help-doctors-diagnose-if-your-child-has-a-rare-genetic-disease/ author: Laura Stampler article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-25T15:56:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:48:35.169Z og:title: Your Facebook Photo Album Could Help Doctors Know If Your Child Has a Rare Genetic Disease og:description: The future of medicine can live in a selfie og:url: https://time.com/2921053/your-family-photo-facebook-album-could-help-doctors-diagnose-if-your-child-has-a-rare-genetic-disease/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec89dc7cb37f2c4a/6986992aadae440d04543dce/dn25776-2_1200.gif?branch=production&width=839&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 839 og:image:height: 472 og:image:alt: facial recognition og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Your Facebook Photo Album Could Help Doctors Know If Your Child Has a Rare Genetic Disease twitter:description: The future of medicine can live in a selfie twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltec89dc7cb37f2c4a/6986992aadae440d04543dce/dn25776-2_1200.gif?branch=production&width=839&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Your Family Photo Facebook Album Could Help Doctors Diagnose if Your Child Has a Rare Genetic Disease > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=fdf3c5bb-f1c4-4dd0-90c3-a291dde15f80&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 25, 2014 3:56 PM UTC  Oxford by [Laura Stampler](https://time.com/author/laura-stampler/) ## Laura Stampler Jun 25, 2014 3:56 PM UTC Digital photos are proving to be important medical tools to help doctors diagnose rare genetic disorders in children. Researchers at Oxford[ have developed a new form of facial recognition software ](http://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2014-06-24-computer-aided-diagnosis-rare-genetic-disorders-family-snaps)that allows computers to scan, say, a Facebook family photo album to analyze how the corners of a child’s eyes, nose, mouth and other features align with characteristics of disorders including Down’s syndrome, Angelman syndrome and Progeria. The program accounts for various lighting, image quality, backgrounds, poses and facial expressions. Even [duck face](http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/duck-face). In the past, digital photographs have been used to help parents informally diagnose diseases in children. When [Tara Taylor posted a photograph](http://time.com/48216/facebook-picture-diagnoses-child-disease/) of her 3-year-old daughter on Facebook in April, for example, a friend in her social network informed her that the glow in the girl’s eyes could indicate Coat’s disease, which if undiagnosed, could lead to blindness. But this program, while still in its developmental phases, is a big step forward. “A doctor should in future, anywhere in the world, be able to take a smartphone picture of a patient and run the computer analysis to quickly find out which genetic disorder the person might have,” Dr. Christoffer Nellåker of Oxford’s MRC Functional Genomics Unit said in a release. After being fed 132 photographs of people with these disorders, the algorithm now has the ability to identify warning signs based on 36 facial features. It can recognize 90 disorders, and the number rises as more faces are fed into the system. [Researchers told the _New Scientist_ ](http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/feces-shoots-toilets-homes-queens-village-sudden-flooding-article-1.1842628)that Abraham Lincoln even ranked as a possible carrier of Marfan syndrome, which results in large facial features:  Portrait of 16th United States President Abraham Lincoln. 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