Goodfellow Unit - Identical twins do not have identical fingerprints

While identical twins have fingerprints that are more alike than those of unrelated individuals, they are still unique¹, having formed prenatally by finger position, amniotic fluid dynamics, and chronicity (the number of placentas in multiple pregnancies). There is about 20% random development noise that produces this unique finding even among genetically identical twins.Fingerprints are a simple metaphor clinicians can use when explaining to patients why “but my twin doesn’t have this” isn’t a reason to dismiss symptoms.

References:

The developmental basis of fingerprint pattern formation and variation Cell (2023)

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