Understanding familial resemblance of fingerprints: Forensic and anthropological aspects

Although fingerprint analysis is widely used in forensic science investigations for personal identification, this unique feature of human beings always has something new to reveal. Genetic factors heavily influence fingerprint formation during embryonic development; therefore, there is a possibility of resemblance or inheritance of fingerprint patterns among the family members. The main objective of the present study is to understand the resemblance of fingerprint patterns among close family members, that is, father, mother, and their children. The study included 134 participants from 20 families of north India. Fingerprints from all the participants were obtained and analyzed for similarities and differences in pattern types between the parents and children to assess their strength of association. The results indicate a significant association (p-value < 0.05) between the fingerprint patterns of the first and second child and their mother. However, no such significance was found between the father and the children. The present study shows that there is a 40% chance of inheritance of fingerprint patterns from the mother to both the children, while the father shows 30% similarity with the first child and only 10% similarity with the second child. Whereas, only 20% of similarity was found among both the siblings. The findings of this preliminary study suggest that in certain circumstances such as mass disasters, cold cases, paternity disputes, missing persons, and so forth, forensic scientists may help to establish connections and corroborate familial relationships by studying the fingerprint patterns of family members.