The longer the little finger, the more the bucket? Studies have identified key genes that affect fingerprint formation

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. How is the fingerprint pattern formed? Which genes play a leading role in this? Humans still know little about the biological mechanisms of phenotype formation such as fingerprint patterns.

In order to solve these mysteries, the team of Wang Sijia, a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the team of Dennis Hutton, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, and the team of academician Jinli of Fudan University, conducted in-depth research on this in more than ten scientific research institutions inside and outside the United Nations, and accurately quantified the fingerprint patterns of a variety of ethnic groups through the analysis of large sample populations. After analyzing the relationship between millions of genetic loci and fingerprint patterns, the researchers pointed out that genes related to human limb development play a key role in the formation of fingerprint pattern phenotypes, which is expected to provide new ideas for the study of early identification and screening of specific diseases through skin pattern phenotypes. The relevant research results have been published in the journal Cell.

Starting from the localization of genetic variants related to fingerprint pattern phenotypes, the researchers conducted genome-wide association scans and multi-population meta-analysis for more than 23,000 individuals, from which 43 genetic loci associated with human fingerprint patterns were identified. Among them, the mutation site of a certain gene is significantly related to the composite phenotype of the middle three finger fingerprints, thus providing a phenotypic and genetic explanation for the "fingerprint module phenomenon" (the middle three finger fingerprints are highly correlated) discovered at the beginning of the last century.

In addition, based on experimental observations of mouse animal models and human embryonic tissue, the research team also found that fingerprint-related genes affect the formation of fingerprint patterns by regulating limb development, rather than by regulating skin development.

Through multi-phenotypic association analysis, the study also found a strong correlation between fingerprint patterns and finger length ratios, and the two shared the same genetic basis. For example, the longer the little finger, the shorter the palm length, the more bucket patterns of the hands, while the longer the distal knuckles of the index finger (where the fingerprint is formed), the fewer the bucket patterns.

This study provides a theoretical basis for the study of the association between skin lines and other phenotypes and diseases of the human body, and is expected to open up the connection and mechanism of macroscopic and microscopic phenotypes. 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.

Image source: Visual China