Chinese and foreign scientists have revealed the secret of fingerprint formation: limb development genes are intrinsic influencing factors

The researchers started by mapping the genetic variants associated with the fingerprint pattern phenotype, and conducted genome-wide association scans and multi-population meta-analysis. Courtesy of Fudan University

China News Network, January 7 (Chen Jing Zhao Tianrun) How is the fingerprint pattern of human beings formed? Which genes play a leading role in this? The reporter learned on the 7th that Chinese and foreign scientists have joined hands to study and found that genes related to human limb development play a key role in the formation of fingerprint pattern phenotypes.

Fingerprints are concave and convex lines that exist on the skin of the fingers, and because of their constantity and high hereditability, they have become the most widely studied skin texture types. Humans still know little about the biological mechanisms of phenotype formation such as fingerprint patterns. The team of researcher Wang Sijia of the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the team of Professor Denis Headon of the University of Edinburgh and the team of academician Jin Li of Fudan University have conducted in-depth research on this in more than ten scientific research institutions inside and outside the United Nations, and through the analysis of large sample populations, the fingerprint patterns of various ethnic groups have been accurately quantified. On the 7th, their related research results were published in the first issue of Cell in 2022 under the title of "The Basis of Limb Development Genes Constituting Human Fingerprint Pattern Differences".

According to reports, the researchers started from the localization of genetic variants related to the fingerprint pattern phenotype, conducted genome-wide association scans and multi-population meta-analysis for more than 23,000 individuals, and identified 43 genetic loci associated with human fingerprint patterns. The researchers found that these genes were significantly enriched in pathways related to "limb development and formation."

"The skin pattern phenotype is an important part of the human appearance phenotype, and it is closely related to other phenotypes and diseases of the human body. This study revealed that what affects the formation of fingerprint patterns is a series of important genes related to limb development, and these genes often play an important role in human development. Wang Sijia said in an interview.

Jin Li, co-corresponding author of the paper, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor of Fudan University, commented that this achievement is a classic case of human phenotypic group research, which well reflects the great scientific significance of human phenomics with innovative sources.

This study provides an important theoretical basis for the study of the association of other phenotypics of the human body such as skin lines with diseases. Wang Sijia told reporters that the scientific community has found an association between different skin patterns and many congenital genetic diseases, such as patients with Down syndrome may have features such as broken palms and arched spherical streaks of the foot thumb. It is reported that Wang Sijia's team is cooperating with medical institutions such as the Children's Hospital of Fudan University, hoping to apply the relevant research results to the early screening of neonatal congenital diseases as soon as possible to achieve early diagnosis and treatment.

According to reports, the human phenotype group is a collection of all biological characteristics of the human body, and one of the important purposes of human phenotype research is to discover the correlation mechanism between genes- phenotypes - environment and macroscopic - microscopic phenotypes, especially the "strong association" and the mechanism behind it. During the interview, the reporter learned that at present, based on the research carried out by Fudan University in Shanghai, the world's first "human phenotype group navigation map" has been preliminarily drawn, and more than 1.5 million strong associations have been found. "This 'navigation map' has brought a huge number of 'question marks' to the scientific community, and is waiting for scientists to further study and crack." This is also one of the important tasks for the next step. Jin Li said. (End)