Leading scientists demonstrate how our fingerprints are formed

Emily

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have solved the mystery of how fingerprints form, and it's all to do with a mathematical theory

Fsince the 1800s. However, how they formed has remained unknown –until now.

Researchers from the University of Edinburgh have found that the recognisable arches, loops and whorls of fingerprints develop in the womb in waves starting from 3 different points. mice to examine how they interact with each other and give rise to patterns in the skin. Developmental biologist Denis Headon from the University of Edinburgh described the process simply as “turning a dial – or molecule – up and down”. It was then observed how these actions caused the patterns to change. For example, increasing levels of EDAR caused ridges to form, whereas decreasing it led to the production of spot-like patterns.

Fingerprint ridges first form as downward growths in the skin, which then start growing upwards resulting in bands. The unique patterns we see arise due to interactions between 3 signalling molecules which follow a Turing Pattern. There are 3 key molecules involved in this process – WNT, EDAR and

The team of Edinburgh researchers adjusted levels of these molecules in