The arch, whorl and loop are the three types of human fingerprints. Credit: Fudi Wang.
Researchers found that the genes responsible for limb development are the ones that affect the shape of fingerprints. The study presented January 6 in the journal Cell could help scientists better understand the association between genes and phenotypical traits in humans.
"People may wonder why our team is working on fingerprints," says Sijia Wang, a geneticist at the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health, of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and co-senior author on the paper. We started the work out of curiosity. Fetal development is dependent on genes for limb growth. Another example of pleiotropy is when multiple phenotypes are interrelated to each other and are affected by the same genes.
arch, loop, and whorl are the types of fingerprints that are categorized. After the third month of the baby's life, these ridges and furrows begin to form on the fetus' fingers and toes. Scientists believe that fingerprints may have evolved to help grab objects and sense their texture, but they don't know how these patterns are formed.
Wang and colleagues found that at least 43 regions on the genome are associated with fingerprints. The expression of the EVI1 gene is known for its role in limb development.
The team turned down the expression of EVI1 in mice because of their modified genes. They found that mice with EVI1 were more likely to have abnormal skin patterns on their digits.
The analysis of human data showed that fingerprints are related to finger length. People with whorl-shaped fingerprints on both of their little fingers tend to have longer little fingers than people with no whorl-shaped fingerprints.
"We don't know how the genes shape fingerprint patterns, but it could be determined by the amount of strength from growth that's put on an embryonic tissue called volar pads that plays an important role in the formation of different patterns of fingerprint," says Jinxi Li, a genetic She explains that as a fetus' hands grow, the palms and fingers stretch. The whorl could be turned into a loop by these forces.
Some studies have shown that people with more whorl patterns are more susceptible to leukemia.
He says that many congenital genetic disorders are related to different dermatoglyphic patterns. Children with Down's syndrome are more likely to have a single crease on their hands. The study suggests that the genes that affect dermatoglyphic patterns are important.
The International Human Phenome Project is led by Fudan University and aims to map how the human phenotypical traits are correlated with each other. The team plans to conduct more research on how diseases and dermatoglyphic patterns are related.
Sijia Wang has information about the genes that underlie variation in human fingerprints. The full text of the paper can be found at www.cell.com/cell/fulltext.
The journal contains information about the cell.
There are fingerprints linked to limb development genes.
The document is copyrighted. Any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research cannot be reproduced without written permission. The content is not intended to be used for anything other than information purposes.
