Adermatoglyphia is an extremely rare
genetic disorder that prevents the development of
fingerprints. Five extended families worldwide are known to be affected by this condition.
The disorder was informally nicknamed "immigration delay disease" by Professor Peter Itin after his first patient had trouble traveling to the U.S. without any fingerprints for identification.
__TOC__
Case study
In 2007 an isolated finding was published regarding the description of a person from
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
who lacked fingerprints. The
phenotype was mapped to
chromosome 4q22. In the splice-site of a 3' exon of the gene for
SMARCAD1-
helicase, a
point mutation was detected. It results in a shortened form of the skin-specific
protein. The
heterozygous expression of the
mutation suggests an
autosomal dominant
In genetics, dominance is the phenomenon of one variant (allele) of a gene on a chromosome masking or overriding the effect of a different variant of the same gene on the other copy of the chromosome. The first variant is termed dominant and t ...
mode of inheritance. The Swiss patient, and eight of her relatives who also had the mutation, all had "flat finger pads and a reduced number of
sweat gland
Sweat glands, also known as sudoriferous or sudoriparous glands, , are small tubular structures of the skin that produce sweat. Sweat glands are a type of exocrine gland, which are glands that produce and secrete substances onto an epithelial sur ...
s in the hands".
[The family with no fingerprints]
by Mir Sabbir; at BBC.com
BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childr ...
; published December 26, 2020; retrieved December 28, 2020
Other conditions can cause a lack of fingerprints, but unlike them, adermatoglyphia has no side effects.
References
External links
*
Autosomal dominant disorders
Cutaneous congenital anomalies
Rare diseases
Fingerprints
{{Cutaneous-condition-stub