Why Are There No Two Fingerprints Alike? New Study Reveals How These Intricate Patterns Are Made

Fingerprints, also known as dermatoglyphs to scientists, are special parts of the body that are unique to every human. These skin patterns on the ends of the fingers and thumbs have been a constant in a person's whole life and they go everywhere. The bumps and ridges leave a mark even without the person noticing it because the skin produces oil and sweat.

According to Attorney At Law Magazine, there are three patterns in fingerprints. The first is the arches, which start and end on each side of the fingers. Secondly, the loops are curvy lines that start and end on the same side of the finger. Lastly, the whorls are like a swirl or circles.

Formation of Fingerprints

Each person's fingerprints are unique and they have long been used to identify individuals. But little is known about the influences on a person's fingerprint patterns. Studies reveal that both hereditary and environmental variables play a role.

As per Medline Plus, genetics appears to determine the fundamental size, form, and spacing of dermatoglyphs. Prior research suggests that numerous genes are implicated, therefore the inheritance pattern is complicated.

Genes that influence the development of the various layers of skin, muscles, fat, and blood vessels beneath the skin, might all have a part in the ridge pattern. Other variables during fetal development, such as chemicals eaten during pregnancy and the environment within the womb. These developmental influences give each person's dermatoglyphs a unique form from everyone else's.

Little Medical School explains that during the sixth to seventh week of fetal development, the fetus starts to get thick pads called volar pads on its palms and feet. These pads appear when some kind of stem cells swell breath the existing layers of skin.

Then by weeks nine and 10, the pads stop growing while the hands continue to grow. On the 15th week, the volar pads smooth out in the hands and feet. Volar pads determine the main pattern of a fingerprint regardless of its size or whether it grows unevenly.

READ ALSO:  Fingerprint Touch Inputs: New Study Demonstrates Neuron Sensitivity

Mathematics Behind Fingerprints

In the study, titled "The Developmental Basis of Fingerprint Pattern Formation and Variation" published in Cell, researchers identified the interplay between two proteins that stimulate ridge formation and inhibit it to produce periodic waves of ridges emerging from three distinct regions on the fingertip.

Developmental biologist Denis Headon, the co-author of the study, and his colleagues tracked how fingerprints emerge over the course of fetal development. Analyses showed the gene activity that cells undergo to form fingerprint ridges, which follow a developmental path that mimic that of a hair follicle, Nature reported.

Their analyses supported the presence of a Turing reaction-diffusion system that can be created when a molecule activating a developmental process stimulates both itself and the inhibitory molecule. As a result, it creates a self-organizing pattern that makes periodic patterns.

Headon and his collaborators found that a protein called WNT stimulates ridge formation, while the molecule called BMP inhibits them and eventually forms the Turing reaction-diffusing system. Ridges emanate from the three regions of the finger, namely at the center, crease at the base, and the tip of the finger.

RELATED ARTICLE:  22-Year-Old Male Shares How Embarrassing It Is to Have No Fingerprints

Check out more news and information on Fingerprints in Science Times.