Why is everyone's fingerprint different

He said that every trace of grooves, curves, and waves that exist on the tips of everyone's fingers is not the same. The pattern formation found on each finger of one hand also varies.

The chances of you finding another set of fingerprints that are completely direct duplicates of your own is only one in 64 billion. But until now, there were no two people in the world who had exactly the same fingerprints. Even a pair of ideas twins

Is It True That Twins Have The Same Fingerprints? Even dots have completely different fingerprints, even though they share the same DNA. How come?

Before further investigating the reasons behind this uniqueness, it is important to know why humans have fingerprints.

How can fingerprints be formed?

Although scientists agree that fingerprints begin to develop around the 10th week of pregnancy and will complete at the end of the 4th month, no one knows for sure the exact process until the prints are created. The most widely accepted theory holds that fingerprints are formed when a fetus is busy moving back and forth touching the wall of the amniotic sac, thus creating a unique print.

Human skin has several layers, and each layer has sublayers. The middle layer of skin, called the basal layer, is squeezed between the inner skin layer (dermis) and the outer skin layer (epidermis). In the fetus, the basal layer grows faster than its neighboring layers, so it curves and folds in all directions. As the basal layer continues to grow stretched, this pressure causes the other two layers of skin to pull too; causing the crushed epidermis to fold into the dermis.

Nerves are also said to play a role in the process of forming fingerprints, because experts suspect that nerves are the origin of the forces that attract the epidermis. This folding process will continue until it finally produces the complex and unique pattern we see on our fingertips today.

Fingerprints are permanent identifiers

Even in death, our prints will still be there - making it very easy to identify a corpse. This is because the fingerprint pattern code is embedded so deeply beneath the surface of the skin that it is practically permanent. And, although they can wear out from exposure to extreme conditions, fingerprints will grow back once exposure to abrasive, sharp, or hot conditions subsides.

In some cases, the damage to the fingertips can be severe and affect deep into the generating layer of the skin, resulting in permanent changes to the fingerprint. Experts report that the resulting scars - whether from a burn or a sharp object wound - can be permanently coded to follow a fingerprint pattern.

There are three basic types of fingerprint patterns

You may have heard that everyone has different fingerprints. But there is a certain pattern that the fingerprint shows. Fingerprints are divided into 3 basic types: loop, arch, and whorl. The arch is further broken down into plain arches and hood arches.

Here's a diagram so you can differentiate more clearly.

Three types of fingerprint patterns (source: www.soinc.org)

The proving texture pattern that is on your fingertips has two common characteristics for every fingerprint: the tip of the hill and the branch. The order of each hilltop and the branches is different at each fingertip. The end of the hill is a thread which ends suddenly; a fork is created from one end of the hill that bisects in two and continues as two new, diverging lines.

Then, why is everyone's fingerprint different?

The fingerprint pattern is fixed to what you have today when the fetus reaches 17 weeks of age. This development depends not only on genetic factors, but also on unique physical conditions.

Countless factors are thought to influence the formation of the pattern; including blood pressure, blood oxygen levels, maternal nutrition, hormone levels, the position of the fetus in the uterus at certain times, the composition and thickness of the amniotic fluid that swirls around the baby's fingers as they touch the amniotic sac wall and its surroundings, to strength finger pressure when the baby touches the surrounding environment. Researchers believe that this myriad of variables can decide how each of the grooves cast on the fingertips of every human being can form.

The level of fetal activity and the variety of conditions in the womb in general prevent fingerprints from developing in the same way for every fetus. The whole process of child development in the womb is so chaotic and random that, throughout human history, there has been almost no chance that the exact same pattern could have formed twice. Thus this also means that the fingerprints on each finger of the same owner's hand will be different. Likewise with the other side of the hand.

Psst… Did you know that there is an inherited genetic disorder that can make a person born without fingerprints? People with Naegeli-Franceschetti-Jadassohn Syndrome (NFJS), Dermatopathia Pigmentosa Reticularis (DPR), or Adermatoglyphia are known to have no fingerprints at all.