According to an article from U.S. News, scientists have discovered that human fingerprint patterns are linked with genes responsible for limb growth during fetal development. After looking at DNA from over 23,000 individuals, scientists found 43 genomic regions that are associated with fingerprint patterns. The region with the most influence is known as EVI1, and it plays a critical role in embryotic limb development. To test their findings, they restricted the expression of EVI1 in mice, and this resulted in the mice having abnormal patterns on their digits.
The article also talked about how previous studies had suggested that EVI1 is linked to leukemia risks, and that it was observed that people who were more susceptible to leukemia had more whorl patterns on their fingers. The researchers all agree that more investigation is needed to truly understand the relationship between fingerprints, genes, and diseases.
I found this study very fascinating because it had never occurred to me that fingerprints could be related to genetics. I also did not know that some fingerprint patterns are being associated with diseases like leukemia. I believe this will expand the use of the fingerprint long past simply identifying a person but being able to determine a better profile of a person based on their fingerprint patters.
Related Article
Fingerprints and Science – Fingerprinting in the Modern World (rutgers.edu)
This study is really cool to think about because there could be other links to diseases that can be read through our fingerprints that have yet to be discovered.
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