Researchers are planning to sequence the genome of King Richard III which could reveal his eyes and hair color.
Researchers are uncertain about the appearance of Richard III because all portraits of the king were painted after his death in during the Battle of Bosworth in the year 1485, BBC News reported.
The study will also allow researchers to determine if Richard III suffered from conditions such as scoliosis, diabetes, and heart disease.
"It is an extremely rare occurrence that archaeologists are involved in the excavation of a known individual, let alone a king of England," Leicester genetics expert doctor Turi King told the BBC.
"At the same time we are in the midst of a new age of genetic research, with the ability to sequence entire genomes from ancient individuals and with them, those of pathogens that may have caused infectious disease," King told the Telegraph.
The researchers will also sequence the genome of one of the King's known living relatives, Michael Ibsen who works as a cabinet maker in London.
"You can actually look across his entire genetic make-up and say something about his ancestry - it is likely he was northern European," King told the BBC.
The king has been portrayed in portraits as a dark-haired man. In the Shakespeare play written about a century after his death the king was depicted as an "evil hunchback," the Telegraph reported.
"We are delighted that, through our Research Resources grants programme, we are able to support this innovative and fascinating work. Sequencing Richard III's genome will not only give us a unique insight into the past, but have a profound impact on the way we think about disease and heredity in our own genomic age. By making this genome available to all, we will ensure that we can continue to learn about Richard's past - both personal and historic - even once his remains have been interred," Doctor Dan O'Connor, Head of Medical Humanities at the Wellcome Trust, said in a University of Leicester news release.
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