NHGRI medical geneticist Paul Kruszka explains that "Human malformation syndromes appear different in different parts of the world. Even experienced clinicians have difficulty diagnosing genetic syndromes in non-European populations." That's where facial recognition comes in. The NHGRI team studied the photographs of 101 participants with the rare disease from Africa, Asia and Latin America. They then developed a facial recognition tech that was able to correctly diagnose the condition 96.6 percent of the time during their trial runs. The team says their tech can diagnose Down's syndrome, as well.

While it could take a while, the researchers plan to develop their creation further until it can help healthcare providers around the world. Someday, doctors could simply take a patient's picture with their phone, have it analyzed by the facial recognition system and receive a diagnosis.