There are only about two dozen people in the world who do not have a papillary pattern either on their fingers and toes or on their palms. The phenomenon of lack of fingerprints was discovered 20 years ago, but the reason why a person's fingertips can be completely smooth has only now been discovered.

A group of geneticists led by Tel Aviv University professor of dermatology Eli Sprecher solved this mystery of nature. After all, the papillary pattern is a "biological passport", it is unique for every person on the planet (even identical twins have different patterns on their fingertips). Scientists are still very vague about why nature needed such an "identifier" at all, and how this pattern is formed. The hypothesis was put forward that the pattern is needed to improve the grip between the pads of the fingers and objects, then it was replaced by the assumption that the papillary pattern reduces friction. Now scientists tend to believe that these curls and combs, unique for everyone in the world, increase the sensitivity of the fingers, but the fact that people meet without any hint of this very pattern has become the main mystery for scientists.

More recently, Israeli geneticists managed to "catch" the gene responsible for such "tricks". It turns out that two extremely rare genetic diseases - Negeli's syndrome and pigmentary reticular dermatopathy - arise from a specific defect in one of the proteins, namely keratin-14. These congenital genetic aberrations cause cell death in the outermost layer of the skin. As a result, people with this genetic defect are born without a papillary pattern on the fingers and toes, on the palms and on the feet, according to the American Journal of Human Genetics.

According to Sprecher, “the phenomenon of adermatoglyphia (the absence of a papillary pattern) was discovered thanks to five families from Switzerland, all of whose members do not have these patterns. We studied in one of these families the genetic profile of each family member in three generations. None of them had a papillary pattern. And each had a mutation in the SMARCAD1 gene. Apparently, it is this gene that influences the formation of the papillary pattern during intrauterine human development, ”reports New Scientist. In people without prints, this gene mutates. The mutation leads not only to the absence of a pattern, and as a result, to the lack of sensitivity of the fingertips, loss of touch, but also to other anomalies. In particular, people suffering from this disease do not have sweat glands. Also, in such patients, the skin of the palms and feet thickens, the development of other diseases of the tissues of the teeth, hair and skin is possible.

For a long time, scientists believed that the patterns on our fingertips were designed to grip objects more tightly. But in reality, they do not improve the "grip" in any way, but rather reduce the friction between the skin and the object, especially if it is smooth.

Researchers studied the friction hypothesis and found that leather behaved like rubber in this case. In fact, the skin patterns on our fingers reduce our ability to grip objects because they reduce our contact area with the thing we are holding. Therefore, the question remains open, why do we have fingerprints? The theories are: better "grip" of rough or damp surfaces, protection of fingers from injury and increased sensitivity.

So, fingerprints are patterns on their tips. They appear when we are in the womb and they are fully formed by the seventh month. We all have unique personalized fingerprints for life. Even twins with identical DNA have fingerprints.

The prints are made up of patterns in the form of arcs, loops and curls that form in the innermost layer of the epidermis: the basal cell layer. Basal cells are constantly dividing and new cells are being promoted into the layers above. The number of basal cells in the fetus grows faster than in the outer layers of the epidermis and dermis. This vigorous growth causes the basal cell layer to form many patterns, and damage to the surface layer will not change fingerprints.

Why do some people have no fingerprints?

Dermatoglyphia is our custom design on the fingers, palms, feet and toes. The absence of these patterns is due to a rare genetic condition called adermatoglyphia. Scientists have discovered a mutation in the SMARCAD1 gene, which is the reason for the development of this condition.
Fingerprints are fully formed at 24 weeks gestation and do not undergo any changes throughout life, however, the factors underlying the formation and structure of fingerprints during embryonic development are not well understood. Although there is still a certain gene that is involved in the development of patterns on the fingers, as well as the development of sweat glands.

Finger patterns and bacteria

Researchers at the University of Colorado in Boulder have demonstrated that bacteria found on the skin can be used as personal identifiers because they are unique even among identical twins. And these bacteria remain on the objects that the person touches. Having studied the DNA of bacteria found on the surface, we can compare it with the hands of the person who left these bacteria. In fact, this is an analogue of fingerprints, very unique and able to remain unchanged for several weeks. Bacterial analysis can be a useful tool in forensic identification when it is impossible to isolate human DNA or obtain clear fingerprints.

There are only about two dozen people in the world who do not have a papillary pattern either on their fingers and toes or on their palms. The phenomenon of the absence of fingerprints was discovered 20 years ago, but the reason why a person's fingertips can be completely smooth has only now been discovered.

A group of geneticists led by Tel Aviv University professor of dermatology Eli Sprecher solved this mystery of nature. After all, the papillary pattern is a "biological passport", it is unique for every person on the planet (even identical twins have different patterns on their fingertips). Scientists are still very vague about why nature needed such an "identifier" at all, and how this pattern is formed.

The hypothesis was put forward that the pattern is needed to improve the grip between the pads of the fingers and objects, then it was replaced by the assumption that the papillary pattern reduces friction. Now scientists tend to believe that these curls and combs, unique for everyone in the world, increase the sensitivity of the fingers, but the fact that people meet without any hint of this very pattern has become the main mystery for scientists.

More recently, Israeli geneticists managed to "catch" the gene responsible for such "tricks". It turns out that two extremely rare genetic diseases - Negeli's syndrome and pigmented reticular dermatopathy - arise from a specific defect in one of the proteins, namely keratin-14. These congenital genetic aberrations cause cell death in the outermost layer of the skin. As a result, people with this genetic defect are born without a papillary pattern on the fingers and toes, on the palms and on the feet, according to the American Journal of Human Genetics.

According to Sprecher, “the phenomenon of adermatoglyphia (the absence of a papillary pattern) was discovered thanks to five families from Switzerland, all of whose members do not have these patterns. We studied in one of these families the genetic profile of each family member in three generations. None of them had a papillary pattern. And each had a mutation in the SMARCAD1 gene.

Apparently, it is this gene that influences the formation of the papillary pattern during intrauterine human development, ”reports New Scientist. In people without prints, this gene mutates. The mutation leads not only to the absence of a pattern, and as a result, to the lack of sensitivity of the fingertips, loss of touch, but also to other anomalies. In particular, people suffering from this disease do not have sweat glands. Also, in such patients, the skin of the palms and feet thickens, the development of other diseases of the tissues of the teeth, hair and skin is possible.

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The mutant gene is the essence of the disease that leaves people without fingerprints. Fingerprints are used as personality markers. There are no two uniform prints.

However, there are people on Earth with a rare condition called adermatoglyphia, in other words, they do not have fingerprints.

Physician Eli Sprecher, a dermatologist and geneticist at the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, and his staff have recognized a genetic mutation that leads to the development of the disease. The study was featured in The American Journal of Human Genetics.

A team of geneticists studied a Swiss family, a good half of the participants of which were carriers of adermatoglyphia and appeared without fingerprints. Their palms, toes and hands are completely straight without a single line. At the time when their fingerprints were taken away, instead of the unique shape of concentric circles, they took even spots.

In addition, these people have significantly fewer sweat glands on their legs and arms. The researchers found mutations in the Smarcad1 gene in these people. this gene is important for many processes in the domestic organism, but in this case its mutation was associated only with the skin.

Being born without fingerprints does not happen because a certain gene turns on or off. Rather, the mutation prevents the copies of the gene from working properly, says Spreher. In humans, there is a longer version of the Smarcad1 gene, or isoforms that works in another part of the body, but this variation of the gene is probably not affected in those who are faced with the problem of lack of fingerprints.

During the course of the study, one of the Swiss family members got into trouble with US government officials of the immigration population while trying to visit the country.

Fans of detective series know very well that any investigation begins with the examination of fingerprints at the crime scene. And this is true, because fingerprinting - the study of unique patterns on the tips of human fingers - has been the cornerstone of forensic science for almost a century and a half.

The history of the development of fingerprinting and dermatoglyphics. Interesting Fingerprint Facts

This science was born, as usual, quite by accident. In 1879, Scottish physician Henry Folds examined prehistoric clay shards imported from Japan. For some reason, his attention was attracted by the fingerprints left when the clay was still wet. And then it dawned on Folds:

"The pattern on the fingers does not change throughout life, which means it can serve for identification better than photography."

The Scottish doctor's idea was picked up and developed by the English psychologist and anthropologist Francis Galton.

Nature has endowed the fingertips with unique and inimitable designs. Scientists somehow calculated: if you take prints from all ten fingers of one person, then the chance that two of them coincide is equal to the proportion of 1 in 64 billion. What can we say about patterns from the fingers of different people?

I must say that fingerprinting could not take root among criminologists for a long time. Skeptics argued that the lines on the fingers are an unreliable sign, changeable over time. And in order to check whether the pattern on the skin changes, many years of observation were needed.

Criminal without fingerprints

Helped fingerprinting, as in the proverb, a case. In 1934, during a joint operation of the Chicago police and the FBI during the arrest, the famous American gangster Clutas was shot dead. Even then, the US police had good rule- fingerprint even a dead criminal in order to pinpoint his identity. The gunman who was shot had no fingerprints ... it was not, his skin did not contain papillary patterns. The experts were simply desperate. But FBI Director Edgar Hoover earned his salary for a reason. At his direction, federal agents literally covered all the doctors and found a surgeon who operated on Klutas by removing the skin from his fingertips. Ganster hoped that such an operation would give him the opportunity to carry out his dark deeds with impunity. But it was not there.

It turned out that after plastic surgery, the papillary lines are restored again, and retain their previous, individual pattern. On the young skin of the dead man's fingers they could now distinguish the old, already outlined lines.

Criminal thought soon found an antidote to fingerprinting - ordinary gloves. But thieves and robbers did not know that gloves can leave a trace ... In December 1964, an alarm signal was sent to the operational communications console of the Leningrad GUVD: a thief in the halls of the State Hermitage! The policemen who arrived at the scene found that two paintings were stolen, one of which belonged to the brush of Karl Bryulov, the author of the most famous “ Of the last day Pompeii". Forensic experts examined literally every square inch of the crime scene. They did not find fingerprints, but they found a very clear mark from a glove in one of the windows. During a search of the alleged offender, they found exactly those ill-fated gloves, which served as the main evidence. Apparently, it was bad in the USSR with haberdashery items ...

Now a fingerprint card is the main and most reliable portrait of a person who dares to break the law. Handwriting analysis, verbal portrait, photos and videos, and even DNA analysis can fail. But a unique pattern on the skin will never deceive and betray a criminal, as they say, with fingers.

But the study of fingerprints is not only good for catching criminals. On the basis of papillary drawings on the palms, it is possible to diagnose many diseases acquired by a person by inheritance. Russian scientists argue that a thorough study of patterns on the skin of the palms will easily determine the moral and volitional qualities of a person and even tell in what profession he will be successful.

Dermatoglyphics - the science of patterns on the palms and feet of a person, broader than fingerprinting - claims that patterns on the tips of the fingers appear in the womb, in the third month of development.

At the same time, the nervous and endocrine systems were formed, so specialists from Moscow State University suggested that papillary patterns clearly show the speed of reaction, quick thinking, the ability to be a leader in society.

To finally test their hypothesis, scientists turned to the All-Russian Research Institute physical culture and sports, in a laboratory where higher sports are researched. Along with weight, height and volume muscle mass biologists this time also studied the drawings on the fingertips. As a result, it turned out that there is a direct connection between athletic performance and papillary patterns.

But maybe this connection is typical only for sports people? It turned out that all ordinary people have it. Once the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs brought the fingerprint cards of a gang of criminals to the researchers, and after a short study the specialists determined who was “on the watch” and who was the leader. You should have seen the faces of the militiamen, amazed at the precise conclusions.

The technology for determining the business and psychological qualities of a person by papillary patterns has existed for several years. It is very difficult, but for HR personnel it is just a godsend! An experienced specialist with the help of fingerprints can very accurately discern in a person a good engineer or a wonderful translator.

How does he do it? There are 39 main types of patterns in total, which are divided into 4 groups: arcs, loops, curls and S-shaped patterns. For a specialist, all ten prints are important, it is even important which finger the pattern is on. For example, a loop means that a person is a leader with an explosive character, touch such, it will flash like a match. The presence of curls and s-patterns on the fingers suggests that a person will make a good substitute, the so-called gray eminence, able to lead from behind an explosive boss.

The head of one recruiting company claims that dermatoglyph recruiting is more than 80 percent accurate, so don't be surprised if a prospective employer asks you to show the palms of your hands instead of a work book.