Before genetic fingerprinting became a common forensic tool, our real "fingerprints" were about as close as we came to establishing a unique identity. In the past hundred years or so since this peculiar individual trait was discovered, fingerprints have played a vital role in criminal investigation and in establishing identity. Up until now, the fingerprints of no two individuals, including identical twins, have matched in billions of manual and computer aided comparisons.
A handful of people in the population though are born without this common identifying marker. The underlying genetic cause for this rare omission has been determined by scientists – a defect in the protein "keratin 14." The lack of fingerprints is not the most serious effect of this condition. Those with the defect, are afflicted with two rare and related ailments known as Naegeli syndrome and dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis (DPR), which in some affected individuals can cause life threatening conditions such as heat stroke.
"Two rare and related diseases leave their sufferers with no fingerprints. Now scientists may have cracked the genetic code behind the inherited ailments. Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia report that defects in the protein keratin 14 may be responsible for both diseases, known as Naegeli syndrome and dermatopathia pigmentosa reticularis (DPR).
The lack of fingerprints can cause vexing social problems, which are magnified because few people have heard of the condition. Cheryl Maynard of Fairfax, Virginia, is part of the fifth generation of her family to have inherited DPR from her mother’s side.
"My father was in the military and he had top-secret clearances," she recalled. "We moved a lot, and everywhere we went they’d say, What do you mean your wife doesn’t have fingerprints? What do you mean that you have kids without fingerprints?"
Maynard has personally experienced many fingerprint-related snafus, often related to employment. She works as a flight attendant and noted that a standard background check by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which took about 2 weeks for most of her peers, took 14 weeks in her case….
For the handful of people without fingerprints the physical impacts are few. Maynard has normal feeling in her fingers, though the lack of fingerprints deprives her of some grip, which makes dealing cards or turning pages more difficult.
But the lack of fingerprints is not the diseases’ only, or even most serious, impact. Patients also experience thickening of their palms and soles of their feet. They suffer from anomalies in the development of their teeth, hair, and skin, where pigmentation can appear patchy and uneven.
Most dangerously, they have skin issues that can inhibit their ability to sweat normally.
"That’s the only really serious manifestation as far as potential harm," said professor Eli Sprecher of the Technion-Israel Institute. Sprecher is co-author of the study that discusses the conditions in the October issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics. "Because they cannot evacuate heat, they can develop heat stroke." ….
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