Genetic mutation causes lack of fingerprints

Adermatoglyphia is a condition which causes people to be born without fingerprints. Only four different families have been diagnosed with this condition, and researchers recently discovered the gene involved. The mutation became known publically when a woman in Switzerland with this condition had difficulty traveling across international borders. This has led it to be called the immigration-delay disease. The study of the family included seven people with fingerprints and nine without, which led to the determination of the specific mutation. People with this condition have a mutation in the smaller form of the SMARCAD1 gene, which was previously unknown to scientists. People with this defect are perfectly healthy, aside from a minor reduction in the ability to sweat.