• Question: We get random genes from our parents but our fingerprints are said to be unique, will our fingerprints look a bit like our parents’?

    Asked by phoebetm to Alberto, Chris, Emmanuel, Michelle on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Emmanuel Amabebe

      Emmanuel Amabebe answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      No Phoebtem,your fingerprint is absolutely unique to you. Even identical twins do not have identical fingerprints. it may look alike but not identical.

    • Photo: Michelle Taylor

      Michelle Taylor answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Your fingerprints are unique to you – even though you do get half of your genes from your Mum and the other half from Dad, the mixture of the two is what makes you completely unique as well as the effects of the environment that you grew up in.

    • Photo: Chris Whittle

      Chris Whittle answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      You will have a unique set of genes to you, but we can tell by looking at DNA whose parents that person might be. Your DNA fingerprint will be completely unique to you, but will have string similarities to your mother and father.

    • Photo: Alberto Lapedriza

      Alberto Lapedriza answered on 27 Jun 2013:

      You get half of your genes from your mother and the other half from your father. The set of genes that comes from your father and the one that comes from your mother is decided randomly, so your genes are unique to you, although are very similar to your parents. The fingerprints, however, are not determined by your genes. They are formed when you develop in your mother’s womb and are unique because they depend on the specific conditions of your development. As they are not determined by your genes, they are not similar to your parents’.

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