• Question: why do we have different fingerprints?? It has been bothering me lately!! Is that weird? LOL :)

    Asked by Kitcat to Ryan on 24 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Ryan Cheale

      Ryan Cheale answered on 24 Jun 2015:

      Really good question 🙂

      We have different fingertips because of genetic diversity, it’s a result of your genetics

      Growth and development of the skin occurs basically the same way in everyone. The dermis pushes up skin cells like keratinocytes through different levels of strata in the epidermis. So try to think of it as multiple layers that are being replaced by the layer underneath it, with the top most layer being flaked off as dead skin. Now, all these actions happen the same in every hand, but the pathways by which these layers are moved up are incredibly numerous. So you have an enormous number of different ways that the epidermis layers on the hands can be formed, and speaking statistically, the odds of having an identical fingerprint to someone else are astronomically low

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