Curious children series for children of all ages. If you have a question you would like answered by an expert, send it to: [email protected].
How can we get the fingerprints we have? – Oscar W., 8, Somerville, Massachusetts
Fingerprints are small ridges on the tips of your fingers. Essentially, these are folds of the outer layer of skin, the epidermis. The “marks” themselves are the traces of sebum or dirt that these ridges leave on the surface you touch.
Your fingerprints began to form before you were born. As the fetus begins to grow, the outer layer of its skin becomes smooth. But after about 10 weeks, the deeper layer of skin, called the basal layer, begins to grow faster than the layers above it. what causes it to “bend” and fold. The expanding bottom layer collapses and accumulates under the outer layer.
These folds eventually cause the superficial layers of skin to fold in, and by the time the fetus is 17 weeks—about halfway through pregnancy— his fingerprints have been identified.
Although this folding process may seem random, the overall size and shape of fingerprints are different. influenced by the genes you received from your parents. So you probably share some fingerprint patterns with your family members.
But the details of your fingerprints are influenced by many other factors besides genes. For example, the shape and size of your skin's blood vessels, the rate at which the different layers of skin grow, and the chemical environment inside your uterus all play a role. No two people have the same fingerprints. even identical twins.
It wasn't until 2015 that a large long-term study found that fingerprints are stable during a person's life. Fingerprint warts are visible on the surface layer of the skin, but the pattern is actually “encoded” underneath. Even if you have a serious injury to your skin, your marks will return as the outer layer heals, although you may also be left with a scar.
So, your fingerprints are completely unique and have existed since before you were born. No matter how much you change as you grow older, you will always have the set you have now, no matter how long you live.
What is the meaning of fingerprints?
Surprisingly, no one really knows what fingerprints are for.
People have long believed that fingerprints provide the friction that helps our hands grasp objects. This makes sense because other non-human animals have fingerprints, including many other primates such as apes and monkeys. and koalas – everyone climbs trees.
But sometimes what makes sense isn't what's true, and a recent study found that fingerprints doesn't really help people hold on to things – at least not things with smooth surfaces.
Other possibilities are that fingerprints improve your sense of touch or help protect your fingers from injury. But scientists don't know for sure yet.
Using your fingerprints
The police used fingerprints and unique shapes of loops, curls and arcs helping catch criminals for over 2000 years, since ancient China.
Fingerprints are now used for many other purposes, all based on the fact that each person's fingerprint is different. You can use this unique code to, for example, unlock your phone or enter a restricted area. In Malawi, fingerprints are used to identify farmers who took out loans. They might even be taken from infants and is used throughout a person’s life for access your immunization records.
Police are still finding new ways to use fingerprints. As fingerprint detection and examination techniques have improved, detectives can even use them to see who threw this or that stone. These small protrusions can also hide small amounts of substances, meaning they can be used to detect the use of illegal drugs such as cocaine and heroin. And now forensic scientists can also detect fingerprints dating back decades, possibly allowing detectives to solve truly old crimes. new technology that uses a chemical that changes color map sweat glands in fingerprints.
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This article has been republished from Talka nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trusted analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. He was written by: Sarah Lupin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Sarah Leupen does not work for, consult, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations other than her academic position.
