Hot on the Trail of Genes that Shape Our Fingerprints

Susan Walsh; Ewelina Pośpiech; Wojciech Branicki

doi:10.1016/j.jid.2015.12.044

Hot on the Trail of Genes that Shape Our Fingerprints

J Invest Dermatol. 2016 Apr;136(4):740-742. doi: 10.1016/j.jid.2015.12.044.

Authors

Susan Walsh¹, Ewelina Pośpiech², Wojciech Branicki³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biology, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
² Department of Genetics and Evolution, Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland.
³ Department of General Biochemistry, Faculty of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland. Electronic address: wojciech.branicki@uj.edu.pl.

PMID: 27012559
DOI: 10.1016/j.jid.2015.12.044

Abstract

Fingerprint patterns have been associated with their ability to identify an individual uniquely, but can uniqueness be understood genetically? Ho et al. point out some key variants that may be responsible for some of the concentric patterns that are observed in digital skin. Furthermore, they propose that one highly associated gene, ADAMTS9-AS2, has a role in epigenetic regulation, a role that may be important in early-stage digit development.

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MeSH terms

Dermatoglyphics*
Genetic Variation*
Humans